Idaho prosecutors on Wednesday filed a motion asking Judge Steven Boyce to reconsider his ruling moving Chad Daybell’s murder trial out of Fremont County and another reiterating their opposition to allowing media to broadcast court proceedings.
Boyce issued an order in October 2021 moving the trial of Daybell and his then-codefendant, wife Lori Vallow Daybell, to Ada County. The trials were subsequently severed when Daybell waived his right to a speedy trial while Vallow Daybell did not.
111523 Renewed Motion to Reconsider Change of Venue by kc wildmoon on Scribd
Vallow Daybell went on trial in March, with the proceedings ending in May with a guilty verdict for murder and conspiracy to murder in the deaths of Tylee Ryan, 16, JJ Vallow, and Tammy Daybell. In July, Vallow Daybell was sentenced to life in prison without parole, as CrimeOnline reported.
Prosecutors have since asked twice that Boyce reconsider his decision to move the trial and were twice rebuffed. Barring keeping the trial in Ada County, the state asked that Boyce at least move it closer to Fremont County, which is more than 340 miles from Ada County.
The prosecutors pointed out that the situation now is nearly the polar opposite of what it was in 2021, when pre-trial publicity was rampant in Fremont County, where the bodies of the two children were found, leading to concerns about the ability to field a fair jury. Now, however, with Vallow Daybell’s trial only concluded in July, Ada County has been the seat of extensive publicity.
“The fact that the Co-Defendant’s trial was held in Ada County now creates a more difficult process of selecting a jury in that venue in relation to the Defendant’s case,” prosecutors wrote. “The Co-Defendant’s trial did not take place in Fremont County and the extensive media coverage associated with the Co-Defendant’s trial is not present in Fremont County.”
“This court previously found ‘the coverage of this case has gone to the point where the Court believes that many prospective jurors would be ‘subtly conditioned to accept a certain version of facts at trial,'” the state wrote. ” … This Court’s same rationale applies, but this time in relation to Ada County. The pervasive coverage in Ada County has created the same concerns regarding residents of Ada County.”
In the second motion, prosecutors argue against broadcast of court proceedings. Boyce barred cameras in the courtroom after Vallow Daybell’s attorneys argued against them, but Daybell’s attorneys have argued in favor.
Prosecutors argue in their motion that barring cameras does not limit the public’s right to learn what goes on , unless certain matters are sealed by court order. The state pointed out that potential jurors who had viewed several special programs about Vallow Daybell’s case were “generally precluded by the Court from serving on the jury,” and allowing extensive coverage would potential only widen the potentially precluded.
111523 Second Response to Request for Cameras by kc wildmoon on Scribd
While defense attorneys have argued that recording the proceedings of the trial helps to guarantee a free process, the state argued that “live or recorded broadcast of the Chad Daybell trial will increase the burden on witnesses as teh local news likely will be inundated with the local news of the day.”
‘Not only will the witnesses feel pressure from the press they then will be in a difficult situation of not following local news or media at risk of the disqualification; likewise, the Court will be incentivizing reluctant witnesses to watch the news to avoid having to testify.’
The next hearing in Daybell’s case is scheduled for November 29 with another scheduled for December 28. The trial is set to start on April 1, 2024.
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