FAYETTEVILLE -- Lawyers for Joshua Duggar are asking that his trial be delayed until next year to allow them more time to prepare.
Duggar, 33, of Springdale is charged with two counts involving receiving and possessing child pornography. His trial is set for July 6 before U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks in federal court in Fayetteville. The motion to continue, filed Thursday, asks that the case be reset for sometime after February.
Duggar's lawyers argue in their motion that they need more time to allow their computer forensics expert to adequately examine the computers and a cellphone that federal agents seized from Duggar. Duggar is represented by Travis Story and Justin Gelfand.
"This is a complex case arising out of a several-year federal investigation concerning allegations involving both the so-called 'dark web' and peer-to-peer BitTorrent file-sharing networks," the motion states.
The defense's independent computer forensic expert needs to examine each of the devices, a time-consuming process, according to the motion. One device that the government says contained child porn has to be examined at a government facility. The defense expert must also conduct a time-intensive review of the remaining devices that the government does not allege contained child pornography, according to the motion.
The review and analysis may take several months, the motion says.
The defense also needs more time to review the government's evidence and pursue certain investigative leads, according to the motion. They lawyers also expect to file a number of pretrial motions that could require a pretrial evidentiary hearing, the motion says.
Duggar's lawyers also say they have several scheduling conflicts related to the courts reopening, post-covid.
Duggar, best known for being part of his family's cable television reality show, is accused of using the internet in May 2019 to download and possess the material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children younger than 12, according to court documents.
A federal magistrate in May allowed Duggar to be released to home detention while awaiting trial at the residence of Lacount and Maria Reber, friends of the Duggar family. The magistrate included a list of conditions, including electronic monitoring and travel restrictions. She forbade Duggar from accessing the internet or any kind of pornography.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and fines up to $250,000 on each count.