Jury selection day 4: Jury selection complete in Lori Vallow Daybell case. Here’s what happens next.
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BOISE — Jury selection in the Lori Vallow Daybell case ended Thursday afternoon with a total of 45 Ada County residents in the final pool.
That number will be reduced to 18 on Friday morning as peremptory challenges begin in the trial. A peremptory challenge results in the exclusion of a potential juror without the need for any reason or explanation. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will each eliminate 12 jurors. When that is complete, 12 men and women will serve on the jury with six alternates.
The jurors will be sworn in and opening statements in the case begin Monday at 8:30 a.m. The trial is scheduled to last eight weeks with dozens of witnesses expected to testify and a massive amount of evidence.
EastIdahoNews.com reporter Nate Eaton has been in the courtroom all week and is providing live updates throughout each day. You can get caught up on the details below and watch “Courtroom Insider” in the video player above.
LIVE UPDATES FROM THE LORI VALLOW DAYBELL TRIAL
5:16 p.m. Juror number 43 has been selected. I’m headed out of court right now but will give you a final update on the number tonight at 7:30 p.m. on “Courtroom Insider” with special guest Keith Morrison from ‘Dateline NBC.’ You can watch here, here or here.
5:05 p.m. We have 42 potential jurors in the pool. Attorneys and judge working until 5:30 p.m. to get a few more as back-ups.
4:44 p.m. Juror is dismissed and excused for cause.
4:39 p.m. Another potential juror called in. Judge has no questions but prosecution asking the man about his Google news feed. He says he doesn’t pay attention to it and rarely gets on Facebook. He’s asked about his study of religion and theology.
4:32 p.m. Woman says Daybell is innocent until proven guilty and she will not make Daybell prove her innocence. Woman advances into the potential jury pool. We need one more to hit 42.
4:30 p.m. New potential juror called into the courtroom. Woman says she doesn’t know the particular charges but knew about the search for Daybell and has not seen Dateline, Netflix or 20/20 about the case. She says she heard some information about the case while watching the news on TV one night but eliminated the news media in 2020 and has not followed the story.
4:27 p.m. Juror passes through. We need two more to get to 42.
4:25 p.m. Sketch of Lori Vallow Daybell from jury selection today:
4:22 p.m. Here is part 3 of the audio recording from day 2 of jury selection:
4:20 p.m. State passes the juror. Defense now questioning man and asks what he remembers about the case. Man responds, “I know children were missing and they were searching for them for some time. They were found at some point – I don’t remember exactly where and then she was accused of their demise. I don’t know a ton but I do know some stuff.”
4:18 p.m. First man says he knew Daybell was charged with murder of two children but says he didn’t really know anything more than that. He has not watched Dateline, Netflix, 20/20 shows about the case. Prosecutor asks man where he heard about the case – he says “general” news and he typically doesn’t watch the news. He is asked if he has a typical channel he watches – he says he doesn’t watch TV. He looks at Google news but has no social media accounts.
4:14 p.m. Now individual voir dire begins where the remaining members of the group will be asked about their exposure to media about the case.
4:11 p.m. We are back from a break and the private individual voir dire that happened in the courtroom. Six have been dismissed due to bias or hardship.
3:33 p.m. Court taking a recess before individual voir dire starts.
3:28 p.m. A potential juror who served as an intern in the coroner’s office is now being questioned by Thomas for what she did as an intern. She says she helped with autopsies. He asked her to describe what she did. She said she didn’t want to get too graphic – Thomas responded, “Get as graphic as you can. I need to know what you did.” Boyce then says they can take that up in individual voir dire.
3:17 p.m. John Thomas challenges juror for cause due to hardship. She cares for her grandson and
3:14 p.m. Potential juror dismissed due to hardship because of her current employment situation.
3:07 p.m. Archibald questions man who says serving on the jury would create a hardship for his coworkers. Archibald asks judge to excuse the potential juror, Boyce responds he will take it under advisement and revisit during individual voir dire.
3:05 p.m. Defense attorney Jim Archibald begins voir dire with group of potential jurors.
3:03 p.m. Boyce excuses one of the jurors for cause due to a personal relationship with someone at the courthouse.
3:01 p.m. Part two of the audio recording from day two of jury selection can be heard here:
2:55 p.m. As Smith continues questioning, Daybell appears to be taking notes while listening intently.
2:45 p.m. Smith says one of the witnesses in the case is Doug Hart, a former coordinator for the FBI in Idaho. Hart is now the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy. She asks potential juror, who is in law enforcement, if he knows Hart. Man says he does not.
2:39 p.m. Prosecutor Rachel Smith now questioning potential jurors.
2:36 p.m. Wood says there will be some evidence in this case he calls “emotionally charged.” Then describes that it is “graphic” evidence. He asks a juror how she feels about that – if she will be ok seeing evidence like that. “It will be hard but I think my training as a nurse will help with that like what I see day to day at work,” the woman responds.
2:35 p.m. A new sketch of Lori Vallow Daybell with her attorneys John Thomas and Jim Archibald:
2:28 p.m. Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Wood now questioning potential jurors and asking them to be “brutally honest” in this criminal case with a defendant who has been charged with serious crimes. “She has an absolute right to a fair and impartial jury and a fair trial. The people of the state of Idaho also have a right to a fair trial.”
2:23 p.m. Following a private sidebar, Boyce says one juror brought up an issue concerning hardship and the man has been excused from the panel.
2:20 p.m. Rob Wood and Rachel Smith will be conducting voir dire on behalf of the state. Wood asks for a sidebar conversation with judge and defense attorneys.
2:15 p.m. Boyce asking potential jurors if they are related to any of the attorneys with the defense or prosecution.
2 p.m. Boyce continues to give instructions before prosecutors and defense attorneys will begin their questioning.
1:59 p.m. We have just received audio from two of the trial from the Ada County Courthouse. It’s about 6 1/2 hours long. You can listen to part one here:
1:54 p.m. Boyce reading potential jurors instructions – don’t talk about the case with others, post about it on social media, read about the case, don’t conduct any personal investigations, etc.
1:48 p.m. Three in this group of potential jurors did not show up today. There are 24 remaining.
1:34 p.m. Opening statements in the trial begin Monday at 8:30 a.m. It’s likely the 42 potential jurors will be reached (and maybe a few more in case of illness, other situations) and the striking will then happen Friday.
1:27 p.m. Jury selection continues in the Lori Vallow Daybell case. We need three more jurors to get to 42 today. We’re told there will be one larger group to pull from this afternoon. Once they are selected, peremptory challenges/striking of jurors can begin. There are around 30-40 people in the courthouse overflow room today.
