Those following Josh Duggar's legal troubles may have been curious about what his lawyers said in court that caused a judge to concede that he wasn't quite ready to dismiss Josh's appeal. With a little luck, Josh's team may be able to use that uncertainty to overturn the former reality star's 151-month prison sentence. Here's what we know.
Both sides were given 20 minutes to present their arguments during the February 16 hearing.
Josh's attorney Justin Gelfand laid out three reasons the judge should reverse the 19 Kids and Counting alum's conviction, according to Kansas City outlet KNWA/KFTA. Those reasons included failure to let Josh present a complete defense and a round of questioning that took place despite Josh's lawyer not being in the room.
Justin says the prosecution did them dirty when it came to testimony from Caleb Williams.
The attorney says that while they had wanted Caleb to testify since he "regularly used the only computer at issue," they were prohibited from questioning Josh's former employee about the subject.
"The district court expressly said that we could call Mr. Williams for a very limited purpose," he explained. "We could ask him whether he had knowledge or recollection of being present on the lot between May 13 and May 16, and whether he remoted in."
He also wanted the judge to be made aware of how Josh's phone was taken away from him at a crucial moment.
We've heard the claims that Josh was denied a call to his attorney, but Justin broke down the timeline of how it went down. Justin addressed the court, saying there was "no factual dispute" that Josh had his phone to his ear as agents arrived on scene "for the precise purpose of contacting his legal counsel."
"They physically took the phone out of his hand," he continued. "And from that point forward, deprived him of the ability to communicate with his legal counsel."
Then there's the issue of metadata.
Part of Josh's case hinged on the fact that Josh's own phone indicated that he'd been on the car lot within the time frame that law enforcement says the illegal child sexual assault material was being downloaded.
Justin said the comparison of those two things were "not sufficient" to say Josh was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
We don't yet know whether the judge plans to grant Josh a full appeal.
While we know that the judge said he wasn't ready to make a final decision at the time, there doesn't appear to be any indication about how long it will take for him to say whether Josh's case deserves another look.
With Josh currently in a Special Housing Unit as punishment for violating prison regulations, we imagine every day he waits for an update feels like an eternity.
