Josh Duggar’s Trial: How Long Did Jury Deliberations Take?
Josh Duggar’s trial officially ended on Dec. 9. A jury of 12 found the 33-year-old used car salesman guilty of two child pornography charges. The trial was the culmination of a nearly two-year-long investigation launched by the Department of Homeland Security. While Josh’s defense team tried to argue that a hacker could have downloaded the child sexual abuse images onto the business computer, the prosecution proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Josh was the only person who could have placed the images on the device. The verdict was read on Dec. 9, but how long did the jury actually deliberate?
How long did Josh Duggar’s trial last?
Josh Duggar’s trial began on Nov. 30 with jury selection. The process took just one day. On Dec. 1, Jurors heard opening statements, and expert testimonies began. Legal experts expected the trial to wrap up by the end of the week, but it was clear that an end was not yet in sight by Friday afternoon.
The federal judge presiding over the trial adjourned the case for the weekend, noting that he expected the case to last through most of the following week. He was correct. The defense and the prosecution made their closing arguments just after lunchtime on Wednesday, Dec. 8. Jury deliberations began shortly after. In total, the trial lasted eight working days.
How long did the jury deliberate before handing down a guilty verdict?
The 12 jurors that heard Josh’s case began deliberating in the early afternoon hours of Dec. 8. Critics following the case initially assumed that a verdict was imminent and would likely come by the end of the day. That wasn’t the case. The jurors asked to break for the day, returning the next morning to discuss the evidence further.
The decision made some Duggar family critics nervous, but apparently, the jurors just needed to sleep on it. They returned to the courthouse at 9 am on Thursday. By 11 am, they had made a decision, finding Duggar guilty on both child pornography charges. All told, the jury deliberated for just seven hours, stretched across two days.
Will Josh Duggar try to appeal his conviction?
Josh Duggar will be sentenced in early 2022, according to District Judge Timothy L. Brooks. He is being held at The Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville while awaiting sentencing. That isn’t where he’ll serve his time, though. After sentencing, Josh will be transferred to a federal correctional facility to serve his sentence.
Josh also has the option to appeal his conviction. It looks like that’s exactly what he is planning to do. According to People, Josh’s lawyer, Justin Gelfand, spoke with reporters outside the courthouse. He said that the defense team plans to continue the fight with an appeal. When they will file that appeal is unknown, but it is likely to be soon.
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