Lori Vallow Daybell requests new trial 2 weeks after murder convictions

Lori Vallow Daybell appears in court in Lihue, Hawaii on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Attorneys for Daybell on Thursday filed a motion requesting a new trial.

Lori Vallow Daybell appears in court in Lihue, Hawaii on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Attorneys for Daybell on Thursday filed a motion requesting a new trial. (Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island via AP)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Attorneys for Lori Vallow Daybell on Thursday submitted a motion requesting a new trial, two weeks after she was found guilty of killing her two children and conspiring to kill her new husband's wife.

The motion was made one day ahead of the 14-day deadline allowed by Idaho state code after a trial has ended.

Daybell was found guilty on May 12 by a 12-person jury of murder, conspiracy and grand theft in the deaths of her two children, 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. She was also found guilty of conspiracy in connection with the death of Tammy Daybell, her new husband Chad Daybell's previous wife.

Lori Daybell's attorneys allege in the filing that she should be granted a new trial because the court "misdirected the jury in a matter of law as it related to the jury instructions on conspiracy," according to the motion.

Attorneys wrote that the indictment filed by a grand jury in May 2021 "states that the conspiracy is 'Chad Guy Daybell, Lori Norene Vallow, and Alex Cox (Lori Daybell's now-deceased brother) and other co-conspirators, both known and unknown."'

Daybell's attorneys claim the court "allowed the trial jury to consider a conspiracy of only two people," which included pairs of conspirators: Chad Daybell and Lori Daybell; or Lori Daybell and Cox; or Cox and Chad Daybell.

"This change of the definition of conspiracy from the grand jury to the trial jury completely changed the complexity of this case by allowing the insertion of the 'and/or' language. For the past two years, the defense had been put on notice that the conspiracy involved at least five people," attorneys wrote.

Daybell's attorneys say another reason she should be granted a new trial is because of a "clerical error" that arose during the trial, when prosecutors asked for an amendment to the charges against Daybell soon before they rested their case.

Judge Steven Boyce approved the change of one charge from grand theft with intent to deprive to grand theft by deception, agreeing it seems like a clerical error, but said then the timing of the request is "sort of unbelievable" because of how many prosecutors have worked on the case.

Daybell's attorneys allege the change was not a clerical error but instead "changed the statute in the definition of grand theft.

"Repeated attempts by the defense to remand the indictment last year were objected to by the government and denied by the court. The court should have likewise denied the government's request to amend the indictment," according to the motion.

Finally, Daybell's attorneys allege that an interview with a juror by an Idaho reporter "revealed that the jury instructions were confusing and that he knew of evidence not submitted to the jury."

Attorneys wrote that one juror was interviewed by EastIdahoNews.com on May 17. The attorneys seem to be referring to a video interview posted on the outlet's website and point to a discussion between reporter Nate Eaton and the juror about evidence that was presented by Arizona police regarding the fatal shooting by Alex Cox of Lori Daybell's ex-husband Charles Vallow.

"Arizona evidence and testimony was not for demonstrative purposes, as the juror stated and as the reporter agreed, but was evidence to show some other reason other than bad character. The demonstrative evidence allowed in this case was the summary evidence from the law enforcement witnesses. To confuse demonstrative evidence and character evidence is easy to do; hence, the defense objections should have been sustained," attorneys wrote.

In September 2019, Lori Daybell's two children were murdered and buried in a shallow grave behind the Salem, Idaho, home of Chad Daybell, the man she was having an affair with and the apparent source of her fringe beliefs.

Then in October 2019, Chad Daybell's wife was killed by what investigators said was asphyxiation in her sleep, though at the time her death was ruled natural. Just two weeks later, Lori Vallow married Chad Daybell on a beach in Hawaii.

Chad Daybell is charged with each of the same first-degree felony charges as his wife, along with two felony counts of insurance fraud and the murder of Tammy Daybell. No trial date has been set for him, but Judge Steven Boyce said he is considering June 2024.

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Related topics

Daybell caseIdahoUtahPolice & Courts
Ashley Imlay is an evening news manager for KSL.com. A lifelong Utahn, Ashley has also worked as a reporter for the Deseret News and is a graduate of Dixie State University.

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