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ST. ANTHONY, Idaho – The attorney for Chad Daybell has filed a motion to object to the court's scheduling order for jury questionnaire submissions.
Attorney John Prior filed the motion on Dec. 23, to address the "quickly approaching Jan. 9 deadline for the submission of jury questionnaires," according to the filing.
Daybell and his wife Lori Vallow Daybell are charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan – two of Lori Vallow Daybell's kids – along with Chad Daybell's previous wife, Tammy Daybell. Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty against the couple, who have both pleaded not guilty to all charges and will be tried together.
District Judge Steven Boyce ruled on Dec. 16 that questions for potential jurors must be submitted by Jan. 9 to be included in court proceedings to find a fair and impartial jury.
The trial will be held in Boise.
Prior's motion also mentions that Daybell will be asking for a further continuance of the trial, which was set to April 3 during a motion hearing earlier this month.
"It would be impossible for Mr. Daybell to propose a constitutionally adequate jury questionnaire prior to completing a mitigation investigation and prior to receiving and reviewing all material evidence, " says Prior in the filing. "To safeguard Mr. Daybell's right to the effective assistance of counsel, his due process rights, his right to a fair and impartial jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community, and his right to individualized sentencing, Mr. Daybell objects to the current scheduling order and will promptly file a second motion to continue."
The next court proceeding for the couple is scheduled for Feb. 27. Further hearings have not yet been scheduled.
