Things are not looking good for Josh Duggar.
In fact, at this point, it seems almost certain that the former reality star will soon be headed to prison for a very, very long time.
You’re probably aware that Josh’s child pornography trial starts two weeks from today, on November 30.
What you might not have realized is that pre-trial legal wrangling has been underway for months now, and none of it has gone Josh’s way.
Already, the defense has filed five motions to dismiss evidence, and all of them have been denied by a federal judge at pre-trial hearings.
Even before opening arguments have been heard, Josh’s side has begun to grow desperate.
So perhaps it should come as no surprise that Josh has decided to make some desperate last-minute changes.
According to a new report from The Sun, Josh has hired a new lawyer.
In court documents filed earlier this week, Josh requested the court’s permission to add associate attorney Ian T. Murphy of Margulis Gelfand, LLC to his already-sizable defense team.
For once, something went Josh’s way, and the judge granted the request.
Murphy works for the firm that was already representing Josh, but his addition still indicates that Duggar and his legal team are growing concerned in their final days of pre-trial preparation.
It’s unclear why Josh and his team decided to bring in a ringer so late in the game, but the move comes on the heels of one of their most brazen gambles to date.
Last week, prosecutors requested permission to use Josh’s past sex crimes against him in court.
Specifically, they would like to mention in their arguments that Josh molested five young girls — four of whom were his sister — while he was still in his teens.
The attorneys say their reason for doing so is to establish a pattern of behavior and illustrate that Josh has a long-standing history of “sexual interest in young girls.”
Josh’s lawyers have responded by claiming that there’s no solid evidence that he ever molested his sisters.
In filings that were made public earlier this week, Josh’s lawyers claim that it’s “unclear” if the “uncharged allegations actually constitute a crime” of sexual assault in the second degree “under Arkansas state law.”
They say the police reports about Josh’s assault on his sisters are too ambiguous to be used in court.
This, despite the fact that the mere existence of these reports is enough to establish the pattern of behavior to which prosecutors are referring.
“The Report is heavily redacted and, importantly, includes no names or dates of birth of anyone involved making it exceedingly difficult for anyone, much less this Court in ruling on the application of Rule 414, to determine whether Duggar actually committed the acts alleged in the Report and whether the conduct, if committed, constituted a crime, particularly in light of the affirmative defenses clearly set out in the statute,” the defense’s filing reads.
It’s unclear if the judge has reached a decision on this matter.
Perhaps Josh’s new lawyer is an expert at arguing in favor of this sort of request.
Or maybe he was brought in in a desperate effort to shore up Josh’s defense team in the wake of yet another setback.
Whatever the case, it’s too late for Josh to accept a plea deal, and he’ll soon be taking his chances in front of a jury.
We can only hope that justice will finally be served.
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