The last time we saw them together, Josh and Anna Duggar were walking out of a courthouse with big smiles on their faces.
The photos were taken following a pretrial hearing at which the judge ruled against Josh and denied five motions filed by his lawyers to have evidence thrown out of court.
Despite the bad news, Josh and Anna felt it was important to keep up appearances and give the media the impression that they’re fully confident that Josh will be acquitted.
The Duggars were back in court on Thursday, and this time, they seemed less interested in putting on a show for members of the local press who had gathered outside.
This time, Josh and Anna entered the facility hand in hand, both of them wearing masks and looking much more somber than when we saw them last.
Perhaps the reality of their situation is finally beginning to hit home.
Maybe Anna has finally realized that her theory about Josh being framed by the Biden administration is BS, and her husband is probably guilty of some truly appalling crimes.
Whatever the case, it seems that Anna has decided to support her husband no matter what sort of allegations are hurled at him.
But is there a point at which she’ll realize she made the wrong decision and stood by the wrong man?
Is her lack of emotion as she came and went from the courtroom this week indicative of a hardening of feelings toward Josh?
News of the hearing was kept under wraps, and so most of our knowledge of what transpired inside comes to us from local media outlets that maintain a daily presence at the courthouse.
According to local Fox affiliate KNWA, Judge Timothy L. Brooks held a routine “walkthrough of elements and components of the trial.”
The hearing resulted in Judge Brooks declaring that a pretrial evidentiary hearing would need to be held due to continued opposition from the defense regarding Josh’s past sex crimes.
The prosecution has argued that the fact that Josh molested five young girls while still in his teens is relevant to the more recent allegations against him.
Josh’s lawyers argue that the information is irrelevant to the trial.
They’ve even gone so far as to claim there’s no evidence that Josh molested his sisters — this, despite the fact that he confessed to his crimes back in 2017 (after the statute of limitations had expired).
“Would [Duggar] dispute that these statements were made?” the Judge asked Justin Gelfand, an attorney for Josh.
“He would not admit that these statements were made,” Gelfand answered, adding:
“The devil is in the details.”
Earlier this week, the judge ruled that the prosecution will not be permitted to address the topic of Josh’s porn addiction in court.
The 33-year-old made a written statement confessing to that as well, but he now says he did so under durress, and only for public relations reasons.
It sounds as though the defense will pursue a similar strategy regarding the molestation claims at next week’s evidentiary hearing.
Needless to say, it couldn’t have been easy for Anna to sit in the gallery and be reminded of the darkest chapters of her marriage.
Despite all of this, however, insiders say she has full faith that her husband will be acquitted.
“She thinks Josh is innocent,” a source close to the situation tells UK tabloid The Sun
Anna welcomed her seventh child in October, but she’s been keeping a very low profile, only announcing the birth to then public this week.
As for Josh, the terms of his bail prevent him from living with Anna, as he is not permitted to cohabit with any minors.
“[Josh] has seen [his] children with Anna there. She has to be there,” says a source close to the situation.
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.
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