Josh Duggar’s trial– on which he is being charged for receiving and possessing child p0rnography– began Tuesday with a juror being excused after it was revealed the individual was a relative of the former 19 Kids and Counting star.
According to The Sun, juror #7 was excused after the judge learned of the individual’s connection to the 33-year-old. A source told the outlet the judge was “shocked” by the juror’s reveal, claiming the individual– whose name is unknown– should have been “filtered out.”
“I know Josh Duggar, I’m related him,” juror #7 allegedly stated. “The marriage of my daughter to his brother.”
While the juror related to Josh will no longer play a part in the trial, it’s been confirmed that two of Josh’s siblings– estranged sister Jill Duggar Dillard and brother Jedidiah Duggar– will be testifying as witnesses at the trial.
Although Jill and Jed are set to testify in the Arkansas federal courtroom this week, it’s unclear if they will be testifying for the prosecution or the defense. Either way, we can assume they will conduct themselves in a more ethical manner than their father, Jim Bob Duggar, who took the stand during Monday’s pre-trial hearing on behalf of the prosecution.
While on the stand, the Duggar Family patriarch not only challenged the judge on more than one occasion, but he was also reluctant to discuss the very thing he was called upon to talk about: Josh’s history of molesting four of his sisters and one other girl when he was a teen.
During the pre-trial hearing, the former Counting On star repeatedly claimed he couldn’t remember the details of how Josh informed him of the molestations (which occurred in 2002-2003), nor could he remember many of the details of Josh’s prior molestations in general.
Josh’s victims included Jill, Jessa Duggar Seewald, Jinger Duggar Vuolo and Joy Duggar Forsyth. (The latter two did not come out as victims until later, while the fifth victim has never been publicly identified.)
Monday’s pre-trial hearing was called specifically so the judge could decide whether or not to allow Josh’s prior molestation history to be part of his current trial; however, the judge has yet to rule on the matter.
If convicted for the charges of possessing and receiving child p0rnography, Josh faces up to 20 years in prison.
(Photos: Twitter; TLC)
10 Responses
I was just going to say this! Process of elimination is very interesting here. Dwain Swanson is already on the witness list, so it can’t be him. Johnny Burnett lives in OK and Robert Spivey lives in TX, so that rules them out. Paul Caldwell has a very public relationship with the Duggars, so it seems unlikely that it would be him. So I guess I would put my money on Korey Nakatsu.
I know we’re crazy in California, but at every round of jury duty I’ve ever served, the first thing they do is ask the jury pool if anyone personally knows the defendant. They have the defendant stand up, so everyone can see them, and if anyone says yes, they are dismissed from the pool. Saves everyone a lot of time on nonsense like this!
I hope all the witnesses BRING IT ON! I can’t imagine the position that they’re in, but I hope they all have the courage to do what’s right. Put him AWAY.
Should be a change of venue.
Isn’t, like, EVERYONE in their community going to be related to or have no more than two degrees of separation from Josh?
Sounds like there should be a change in venue.
My only hope is that the judge seems to be appalled by it all. But I’m having trouble imagining how twelve unindoctrinated people choose to reside in such a community.
This is federal court, which means they’re pulling from a juror pool that’s larger than just the county in which the Duggars reside.
Also, I have friends who live in Springdale (the Duggar’s town). The Duggars are a minority there, not every resident holds their same beliefs. There are plenty of people who despise having them in their community.
YES YES YES! I don’t know who called Jill of all people, but that’s brilliant. Of all the clan, she is the most likely to actually tell the truth when she swears on the Bible. I wonder what Jed is expected to bring to the conversation. Either way, give ’em hell Jill!
I hope Jill speaks her truth. That family has continued to bury their girls under mounds of emotional abuse for years. Their failure to protect them and lie about what Josh did only shows that the minor children currently in their home aren’t any safer now than in 2003. Both in JB and Josh’s homes. None of those children are safe with him around.
Jim Boob must have been practicing for his hopeful stint as Senator with his “I can’t recall” testimony today.
Funny, in 2015, he had no trouble recounting how his disgusting excuse for a son confessed to molesting 4 of his daughters! Wow, for a guy who knows where every nickel he ever spent is, and where all the secrets of his cult members are, all of a sudden he is experiencing some special old man amnesia!!
What a garbage human.
There’s only so many of the Duggar boys that are married, so it’s not hard to narrow that down if you really wanted to. It’s interesting how the mother of Josh’s ex could remember being told about what happened but jb can’t remember what his own child did, even though he’s the one who had to handle it. This whole thing is a shit show and it’s barely started ?