Josh Duggar Seeks New Trial Citing Allegedly Biased Testimony

Josh Duggar, convicted in 2021 for possessing child pornography, is seeking a new trial by representing himself and arguing that his constitutional rights were violated during the original proceedings. Central to his appeal is the claim that Bobye Holt, the mother of his teenage ex-girlfriend and a former close family friend, provided "uncorroborated and prejudicial testimony" about Josh's past molestation of underage girls, which he asserts should not have been admitted. Holt had testified that she ended her daughter's courtship with Josh after learning about his inappropriate behavior, and her emotional testimony was a pivotal part of the trial. Josh describes Holt as "bitter" due to his marriage to another woman, Anna, and accuses her of harboring hostility toward him and the Duggar family, which he claims was not disclosed to the jury. Meanwhile, Amy Duggar King, another relative, has publicly criticized the Duggar family's conservative and strict upbringing linked to the Institute in Basic Life Principles, highlighting religious trauma and corporal punishment as aspects of their past. These legal and familial disputes reveal ongoing tensions within the Duggar family and the broader fallout from Josh Duggar's criminal convictions.