Jury Is Selected In Josh Duggar's Federal Child Pornography Trial
Judge Timothy Brooks also read a list of 28 potential witnesses that could be called to testify including Duggar's siblings, Jill and Jedidiah.
The jurors tasked with deciding former reality star Josh Duggar’s fate have been selected.
After a day-long process Tuesday, attorneys and the federal judge in the case whittled a pool of 52 potential jurors down to 12 jurors and 4 alternates after excusing one man who was related to the family and another who told the court he was extremely distrusting of government and couldn’t be impartial, local station KNWA reports.
The exact makeup of the jury selected wasn’t clear Tuesday evening because the media wasn’t allowed into the court room to allow for social distancing and an audio feed for reporters in a nearby room was not on at the end of the day after the final selections had been made.
Earlier in the day, Judge Timothy Brooks questioned jurors about their familiarity with Duggar and the family’s reality television series “19 Kids & Counting.” While 14 jurors were “not familiar” with the famous family, most had at least some prior knowledge of Duggar, who is facing two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography. He's pleaded not guilty in the case.
Brooks also questioned the potential jurors about their news consumption and social media use along with any connections they may have to law enforcement or the government, People reports.
Some potential jurors were dismissed immediately, including one man who stood up and said his daughter was married to one of Duggar’s brothers.
“I would have thought we would have had a filter in place to check for that but I guess not," Brooks said after making the unusual discovery, according to the news outlet.
Another woman who was 29 weeks pregnant with twins was also quickly dismissed from serving in the trial.
During the selection process, Brooks provided the names of 28 potential or confirmed witnesses for the trial. Making the list were Duggar’s siblings Jill and Jedidiah, although it was unclear whether they would be witnesses for the defense or the prosecution. Duggar family friends Jim and Bobye Holt were also listed as potential witnesses.
