Josh Duggar’s Defense Rests After Calling Only 2 Witnesses to the Stand

Less than 24 hours after the prosecution rested their case and the defense attempted to acquit Josh Duggar of the charges against him, the defense also rest their case. However, it may be a shock to some to learn that the defense only questioned two witnesses. 

And as KNWA reports, the honesty of one of those witnesses is already in question. According to their reports, defense digital forensics expert witness Michele Bush’s experience was called into question when it was revealed she had only just graduated from college in 2015. 

Josh Duggar’s Defense Rests After Calling Only 2 Witnesses to the Stand

While being questioned by both the defense and the prosecution, Bush admitted this “might be” the first time she was ever called to testify as an expert witness in a federal case. She further revealed that she had very little to no training in Linux or the Torrential Downpour software used by law enforcement.

RELATED: Judge Says There Was ‘Well More Than Sufficient Evidence’ as Josh Duggar’s Defense Attempts Acquittal

As the prosecution’s forensic expert revealed in his multiple testimonies, Linux and other software were used to determine that text messages and geotagged images place Duggar’s cell phone “at or near his work computer at the time the Linux partition was being downloaded and that the child porn was being accessed.”

As People further revealed, “The windows of time ranged from just two minutes to over an hour. In one example, Fottrell said Duggar’s phone had photos taken on the car lot at 5:58 p.m. on May 13 — 11 minutes after the Linux partition was installed on the desktop.”

Further in her testimony, Bush was asked why she didn’t mention the similarities in passwords found on Josh Duggar’s work computer and personal devices. As Mamas Uncut previously reported, James Fottrell revealed that while searching the saved passwords on Josh’s devices he discovered that the password used to protect a portion of his HP desktop, the portion that housed the child pornography images, was the same password once used to protect the family’s Instagram account at one time.

When questioned why she didn’t detail those facts in her own 100-page report, KNWA says Bush claimed she “couldn’t recall if she had seen that during her investigation.” And when asked about the Tor browser and the dark websites that were bookmarked, Bush admitted that the “Hidden Wiki site” is known for housing child exploitation materials.

In addition to Bush’s testimony, the defense also called Daniel Wilcox, a former Homeland Security Investigations task force member, and Rogers Police Department narcotics officer, to testify. Wilcox had gone undercover posing as a customer at Josh’s used car lot. His duty was to verify that Duggar actually worked there.

While undercover, Wilcox testified that he observed a computer and an iPhone but wasn’t part of the search warrant that lead to Josh Duggar’s arrest. He also testified that he “didn’t know what their plan was” when it came to the investigation. 

And with that, the defense rested their case. It is now expected that closing arguments will begin today, December 8, and the jury will be handed the trial later this afternoon to begin deliberations.

Educated guesses regarding how long the jury may deliberate have not been made.