Josh Duggar speaks at the 42nd Annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel & Convention Center, February 28, 2015 in National Harbor. Kris Connor/Getty Images
Josh Duggar's defense has been fighting with the prosecutors for several weeks over evidence.
They would like to see the "auto-generated logs", which are emailed to three officers, on images of child sexual abuse.
Two counts of child pornography have been brought against the former TLC star and he will be tried in November.
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Josh Duggar's former TLC star is asking for more information from the police departments where prosecutors claim he downloaded files containing child sexual abuse from his IP address.
A federal judge granted Thursday's request by the Duggar team in a partial victory. Judge Timothy Brooks said that federal agents and prosecutors can likely work together to get the information Duggar's group wanted from the Jonesboro or Ozark police departments in Arkansas.
Brooks stated that Brooks had been persuaded by the defense that the auto-generated logs that were emailed to the officers could reveal information that could be either exculpatory, inculpatory or both. Brooks stated that, if such logs are not available, Duggar's legal team should be notified.
Duggar, a former host of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting," was charged with possessing and receiving child pornography. Duggar pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released from prison in May. His trial is scheduled to begin in November.
A federal agent stated that Duggar had downloaded 65 images of child pornography and also a two-minute video of young girls aged between 5 and 10 years. According to the agent, one of the child pornography downloads was the most serious he had seen in more than 1,000 cases.
Duggar’s defense team has been arguing with prosecutors over evidence for weeks - specifically, a screenshot that prosecutors provided showing three Arkansas police officers had downloaded child sexual abuse photos from an IP address connected to Duggar’s used car dealership.
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Only the Little Rock Police Department reached out to federal agents for a child pornography probe, according to prosecutors in an August 9 court filing.
Duggar's team raised questions about when and how police obtained the files of child sexual abuse and what they did with them afterward.
Duggar's team has been fighting with prosecutors for weeks over a screenshot
After his arrest in Fayetteville on April 29, 2021, Josh Duggar, a former television personality from "19 Kids and Counting", poses for a booking photograph. Washington County Jail via Getty Images
Duggar's lawyers noted in a July 26 motion that all three Arkansas Police Departments downloaded the files the same day, May 14, 2019. They noted, however, that only the Little Rock Police Department had referred the matter for federal investigation to Homeland Security Investigations. This was five months later.
Duggar's lawyers argued that this timeline "[begs] questions about what occurred during the five months between May 2019 & October 2019,". "It is highly unlikely that any reports were created in the intervening months by any one of the three law enforcement agencies which downloaded this file.
Duggar's team stated that these reports, if they are available, could be "potentially exulpatory" or "potentially favorable evidence material."
Prosecutors claim they don't have "auto-generated logs sent by the officers" and don’t know if any exist. Duggar's lawyers were accused of misinterpreting their investigation and the charges against Duggar.
Prosecutors stated that the two other officers from the Jonesboro or Ozark police departments "played not part in this case investigation and did not provide any materials to the prosecution team related to their activities."
Duggar's team didn't win the ruling on Thursday. Other requests by defense attorneys were also denied by the judge, including one that requested that prosecutors provide a screenshot in "native format".
Brooks stated that "the court is not certain what Mr. Duggar means when he uses the term "native format"," Brooks added, adding that the request was too vague to understand.
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