Lori Vallow Daybell’s attorney files documents asking that trial be moved
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ST ANTHONY — Lori Vallow Daybell’s attorney is officially asking for her jury trial be moved out of Fremont County.
In court documents filed Thursday, Mark Means wrote that Daybell can not receive a fair and impartial jury in its current location. Means asked that a hearing be held on the matter and he will support his reasoning in further court filings.
Daybell pleaded not guilty on Sept. 10 to two felony counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. The charges came after the discovery of her children’s remains. In June, investigators found 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan found buried on the property of her husband, Chad Daybell’s Salem home.
Chad Daybell has also pleaded not guilty to felony charges and his attorney, John Prior, has asked that his client’s jury trial be moved out of Fremont County for the same reasons. Prior has also asked that the charges against his client be dismissed altogether.
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Prior and Means have hinted at moving locations in the past. Last month, three people in Fremont County told EastIdahoNews.com that a woman approached them and said she had been hired by a Boise firm to conduct surveys about the case.
The woman asked if they had heard of the Daybells, if they thought Chad and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, were guilty and if anything might change their minds during a trial.
The couple is scheduled for separate jury trials in 2021. However, Special Prosecutor Rob Wood has asked the judges on the cases to combine the trials. Wood said he intends to use the same witnesses and evidence and having them joined would be more efficient for those involved.
Prior filed an objection to Wood’s motion last week, saying that it would be unfair to his client to have the trials together due to local and national media coverage being enhanced.
Means has no objection to having the trials together, according to court documents filed Monday.
On Oct. 29, Chad Daybell and Prior are expected to appear before District Judge Steven Boyce to argue that the case be dismissed and to not combine trials with Lori Daybell.
Lori Daybell is next scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 25 for a pre-trial conference; however, hearings on the recently filed motions are likely to happen sooner.
