(Note: This post is not intended for publication on any news outlet, nor is it written for any news organization for which I was previously or am currently employed. )
On August 7, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower federal court’s conviction against Joshua James Duggar on child pornography charges, thus essentially ending the disgraced former reality TV personality’s attempt to overturn the verdict or receive a new trial.
Duggar, 35, was found guilty on two counts in the Western District of Arkansas Federal Court in Fayetteville in December 2021. In May 2022, he was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison, to be followed by a term of 20 years of supervised release with a host of special conditions attached. Duggar will continue serving that sentence at FCI Seagoville in Texas following today’s appellate court ruling.
“Duggar used a computer to download hundreds of child-pornography images. Law enforcement tracked the images to a used-car dealership he owned by identifying the internet-protocol address of the computer,” the court wrote to begin its 13-page opinion.
“When asked whether he would like ‘to discuss further details’ about the warrant, he said yes. Without waiting for an explanation, Duggar blurted out, ‘What is this about? Has somebody been downloading child pornography?’ He then let it slip that he was ‘familiar with’ file-sharing software and had installed it on ‘all of’ his electronic devices, including ‘the computer in the office.’”
The court’s ruling also noted that Duggar’s defense categorized the case as a “classic, old-fashioned whodunit,” before declining to call any other potential perpetrators to the stand at trial. His defense team claimed that the restrictions placed on calling one of Duggar’s employees, a convicted sex offender, prevented Duggar from mounting a complete defense.
“The right to present a complete defense…does not trump a district court’s discretion to keep out confusing or misleading evidence,” the opinion noted. “Even if it would be helpful to the defense. The district court had ‘unquestionably constitutional’ discretion to exclude the conviction under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. It necessarily follows that the court’s application of this ‘well-established rule’ could not have violated Duggar’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.”
Duggar’s appeal also questioned the legality of statements he made to authorities during a non-custodial interview on the day he was arrested at his Northwest Arkansas car lot in 2019.
“He wanted them suppressed on the ground that the agents violated his right to counsel,” the opinion observed. “Which he tried to invoke by mentioning a lawyer and then attempting to call one.”
The ruling added that the government argued that agents did not take Duggar into custody before interviewing him.
“Everyone agrees that there was no arrest that day,” the opinion stated, before proceeding to analyze whether “a reasonable person” in the suspect’s shoes would have considered his freedom restricted at the time.
The judges did not make any statements or offer any opinions regarding whether Duggar is, in fact, a reasonable person.
But they did conclude that “a reasonable person in Duggar’s position would not have thought ‘his freedom of movement’ was ‘restricted.’”
The next issue involved the metadata on Duggar’s phone that helped confirm his location at the dealership at the precise moments when the illegal child sexual assault material was downloaded.
“The analyst was qualified to testify about what he found,” the judges said of DOJ Forensics Expert James Fottrell, who testified for the prosecution at trial as an expert witness.
The final point of contention in the appeal regarded the defense’s own expert witness, one with far less experience than Fottrell.
“Although the district court allowed her to speak generally about EXIF metadata, she could not suggest that the ‘dates and times’ were wrong,” the opinion said. “She never ‘loaded’ any of it ‘into [her] software.’ So, as she put it, her testimony consisted of a lot of ‘I don’t know[s].’”
“It does not matter that the government cross-examined her about the EXIF time stamps on the photographs. She responded by ‘assuming the information’ in the government’s exhibits was ‘accurate,’ because she had ‘not personally’ verified it. Given that qualification, she did not leave the jury with the ‘false impression’ that she agreed with the government’s analysis. There was, in other words, nothing for her to clarify.”
“We accordingly affirm the judgment of the district court,” the opinion concluded.
The defense has 14 days to file for a panel rehearing or a rehearing en banc with the federal appeals court. The defense could also file a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States.
If defense counsel Justin Gelfand declines to file a petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc or a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States requested by Duggar based upon counsel's determination that there are not reasonable grounds to do so, counsel must inform the court and file a written motion to withdraw.
EPILOGUE
It’s over.
He can apply for a rehearing, and maybe they’ll try to take it all the way to the Supreme Court, which is kind of a terrifying proposition considering the current makeup of the court and the litany of photo opportunities that Duggar has racked up with right-wing politicians with similar ideologies to the majority of justices. But I can’t see it progressing any further than this. I really think it’s done. Josh Duggar wasn’t wronged. He wasn’t deprived of anything, and he wasn’t mistreated.
He did all of those things to other people.
There was a long stretch when he had to be part of my everyday routine. Each morning and evening, I would check online for updates in this case. I don’t have to do that anymore. I don’t think I’ll ever forget all about Josh Duggar, but at least I have the freedom and the opportunity to try.
The same can’t be said for his victims. I know they can never forget him. I just hope that this ruling today brings them some solace…a tiny measure of relief. Something. Anything.
I’m glad that this is truly over and that justice was served. And I’m so thankful that my coverage of this horrible story helped some people along the way, in whatever tiny fashion it could. That means more to me than you’ll ever know. My sincerest thanks, dear readers that have stuck around for this ride.
I've been waiting for your take on this!
Thank you for this!!