After hearing everything about his horrific crimes, it’s almost impossible to imagine that Josh Duggar could possibly be acquitted and freed from prison.
But believe it or not, there’s a chance the convicted sex offender could soon be home to his wife and seven kids.
Josh’s appeals process was recently underway, with attorneys for both sides presenting arguments before a panel of three judges.
A decision has yet to be made public, but it appears that at least one judge feels that Josh was denied his civil rights during the government’s investigation of his crimes.
Agents raiding Josh’s workplace to search for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) seize his cell phone.
Josh’s attorney, Justin Gelfand, insisted that in doing so, they denied him his right to contact an attorney.
,[Duggar] Gelfand told the court, “takes out his phone, physically puts it to his ear … for the purpose of contacting his legal counsel.”
“Federal agents physically took the phone from her hand and denied her the ability to communicate with her legal counsel,” Gelfand continued.
“He was told that he was free to go. No sane person in his place at the time would have believed it.”
When the judges asked if Josh could have walked somewhere nearby to make the phone call, Gelfand said:
“This lot was accessible only by a highway with no pavement, it was in the middle of nowhere. There was nowhere to go.
Gelfand continued: “The vehicle he arrived in was searched, he had no access. The keys to the other vehicles in the car lot were in the office. He would not be allowed inside without an escort.’
“Mr. Duggar was not in custody at any point during the search of the car used… Mr. Duggar was repeatedly told that he was not in custody and was free to leave,” the Justice Department attorney said. Joshua K. Handel replied.
“He said that his wife was pregnant and would be pregnant soon. He might have to leave in order to contact her. The agent said that was absolutely fine,” Handel continued.
“Mr. Duggar left the scene at a time of his choosing and without being arrested… Mr. Duggar voluntarily ended the interview. He was not arrested until a year and a half later.
“I am a little concerned though…the agent knew he was trying to call his lawyer. It appears that was the only way he could have done it,” a judge said after hearing both sides of the case. Said after.
“It concerns me when someone tries to contact a lawyer … and is unable to call a lawyer because there is no alternate way to do so. I have never seen this before.”
“It is not clear whether there was any other way to contact the lawyer. One of his employees had a cell phone not confiscated by the authorities,” Handel countered.
“The agent could have said, ‘Use my phone to contact your attorney,'” Gelfand argued.
In addition to her claim that Duggar was “questioned outside the presence of her attorney, her phone was physically taken from her hand when law enforcement attempted to contact her attorney,” Gelfand Several other arguments were given to invalidate the results of the first test. ,
The Arkansas district court “applied a test that the US Supreme Court has already determined is unconstitutional,” thereby denying “Mr. Duggar the opportunity to present a complete defense.”
Gelfand said the defense “attempted to extract testimony” from Duggar family friend Caleb Williams, who says Josh was framed for his crimes.
Gelfand claims that the judge would have allowed the defense to only ask Williams about his whereabouts on the days in question, nothing else.
“The district court clearly stated that we may summon Mr. Williams for a very limited purpose,” he replied.
“We may ask him whether he had any knowledge or recollection of being on the lot between May 13 and May 16, and whether he was self-isolating.”
Finally, Gelfand alleged that the lower court “erroneously introduced expert testimony as evidence.”
Said testimony, he claims, involved “a critical issue in the case”, particularly that EXIF metadata collected from digital photographs was introduced into evidence.
Legal experts say Josh’s team is still fighting an uphill battle.
But there’s a chance the disgraced former reality may soon be back in court for a new trial.