Judge will allow livestreaming of Chad Daybell’s trial, rules on other motions
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ST. ANTHONY — Live video streaming of Chad Daybell’s trial for murder next spring will be allowed, a judge ruled Wednesday during a court hearing in Fremont County.
District Judge Steven Boyce issued the decision and heard arguments on other motions, including a request to move Daybell’s trial back to eastern Idaho from Ada County, and a motion to strike the death penalty.
Daybell is charged with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder. His wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, was found guilty of similar charges in May and is serving a life sentence. The charges are in relation to the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan — two of Lori’s kids — and Chad’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.
Cameras in the courtroom
John Prior, Daybell’s defense attorney, has repeatedly said his client wants a “public trial” and argued that cameras should be allowed in the courtroom when proceedings begin April 1.
“The primary reason Mr. Daybell wants cameras is for his family in Utah to watch the proceedings. They’d like to be able to view it,” Prior said. “Cameras keep everybody honest. They keep the system honest. They keep the witnesses honest. They keep everyone honest.”
EastIdahoNews.com and a handful of other Idaho media outlets hired attorney Wendy Olson to argue for cameras in the courtroom. She has also represented the media in fighting for camera access in Bryan Kohberger’s Moscow murder case.
“With guidelines from the court, cameras allow the public to understand what goes on first hand in the courtroom,” she said to Boyce. “The criminal justice is very hard on the participants. It demands a lot of people. Covering the proceedings live will allow the public to understand that better. It is still a relatively rare thing for people to have first-hand involvement in court proceedings.”
Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Wood said although he respects the media, prosecutors are against having cameras during the trial because they could create a “circus-like” atmosphere. He expressed concern that potential jurors and witnesses could watch coverage.
“We shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken. This court made a very good decision (banning cameras) in Lori Vallow’s case. It led to more professional proceedings and helped in preserving the rights of the parties to a fair trial,” Wood said. “This will be an eight-week trial, and by broadcasting that length of a trial, you run the risk of people (witnesses, jurors) hearing and seeing things they shouldn’t.”
After a short recess, Boyce ruled that livestreaming would be permitted with court equipment. Restrictions will be in place, and other video and still cameras will not be permitted inside the courtroom.
Change of venue
Boyce also heard argument from Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake on moving Daybell’s trial back to eastern Idaho from Ada County.
When Boyce granted a change of venue request from Prior in 2021, the judge said media saturation in Fremont County would make it hard to find a fair and impartial jury. Blake argued Wednesday that during Lori Vallow Daybell’s trial this spring, media coverage in Ada County was also extensive.
“During the trial, there was daily coverage, daily reports, interviews being conducted on the courthouse steps daily … and crowds were gathered to hear the verdict,” Blake said. “The coverage in Ada County is pervasive.”
Blake acknowledged that Fremont County’s population is much smaller than Ada County’s but said she believed a fair and impartial jury could be found there.
Prior disagreed and noted there were 300,000 qualified jurors in Ada County versus around 2,000 in Fremont County.
“A large number of witnesses are from Fremont County. They have family and friends and live in the community. When picking a jury, this would create a nightmare. We are not going to be able to obtain people who don’t know witnesses in this case,” Prior said. “The media attention has saturated the entire state and the entire country.”
Boyce said he would take the issue under advisement and issue a written ruling.
Other motions
Boyce granted a motion from prosecutors to amend some parts of the indictment — some of which were clerical errors, others more substantive.
The judge denied a motion from Prior to limit prosecutors’ arguments during the trial to be consistent with arguments they made during Vallow Daybell’s trial.
“Arguments made during Lori’s trial need to be consistent during Chad’s,” Prior said. “You can’t make one legal argument in terms of who is the culpable person and who is leading the conspiracy in one trial and then change it to someone else during the other trial.”
Wood objected to Prior’s argument and said prosecutors were not changing the theory of the case that both Vallow Daybell and Daybell were responsible for the crimes.
“We will focus on Chad at his trial. We will present the same core theory argued at Lori Vallow’s trial,” Wood said.
Boyce said he has not seen any evidence that prosecutors plan to argue inconsistent arguments but if it does happen during the trial, Prior can raise the issue again.
“The state cannot come in and argue a set of facts at trial No. 1 and turn around and argue a set of different facts at trying to convict individuals,” Boyce said.
The judge said he would issue a written decision on another motion argued by Prior to have the death penalty taken off the table.
The next hearing for Chad Daybell is scheduled for Dec. 28 in Fremont County.
