DAY 26 | LIVE UPDATES: Prosecutors, defense attorneys meet with judge to discuss jury instruction

LIVE UPDATES FROM THE LORI VALLOW DAYBELL TRIAL

2:52 p.m. Court is adjourned for the day. Join me tonight at 7:30 p.m. MT for ‘Courtroom Insider’ on my Facebook page or the EastIdahoNews.com YouTube channel.

2:48 p.m. Boyce mentions that references to Chad Daybell’s crimes on the indictment should be modified before being given to the jurors. State asks for clarification on how the information will be redacted. Archibald asks if Chad’s name will also be deleted. Blake says that will only confuse the jury. She says it will get very confusing if his name is removed. Boyce says the name should be removed from a part of the caption but it will remain in other parts.

2:44 p.m. We are back from the break. State has no problems with the revised verdict form. Archibald says question #6 is very similar to questions #1 and #3. Boyce says that’s how it was charged. If there are any other revisions to the verdict form, he will let the attorneys know. Jurors will receive these instructions tomorrow and then closing arguments.

2:28 p.m. Boyce says a new verdict form has been prepared. We are taking a quick recess while the attorneys review it. We will be back in 10 minutes.

2:20 p.m. Blake pushes back on the changes and wants the wording to remain the same. She says changing it will confuse the jury and asks Boyce to deny Archibald’s request. Boyce says he’s reviewed the matter and modifications will be made so jurors are not confused.

2:19 p.m. Archibald brings up another issue with the questionnaire and asks for some changes to be made.

2:16 p.m. No objections on #36, #37, #38 and the final instruction of #39.

2:12 p.m. Instruction #35 gets to the verdict form, Boyce says. The content of the verdict form will be part of this instruction. Blake asks that changes be made to questions #2, 4 and 5 by removing “and grand theft by deception.” Boyce says the changes need to be made. Blake has no objection to the way the instruction reads. Archibald says the questions ask if Lori is guilty or not guilty – but the checkboxes are reversed – not guilty and guilty. He asks the questions say not guilty and guilty to be consistent. Boyce says the verdict form will be redrafted.

2:09 p.m. State does not object to #34. Archibald says the instruction does not contain the same language as the indictment regarding the grand theft elements. Boyce says he reviewed it and the instruction is appropriate. He lets it in.

2:03 p.m. State has no problem with #33. Defense objects. Boyce overrules and says it will be given.

1:56 p.m. State has no objection to #32. Archibald objects to some of the paragraphs and says the instruction gives more options for conviction rather than how Lori was indicted. He asks for the instruction to be removed. Blake believes the instruction is appropriate and asks for it to remain in its current form. Boyce overrules the objection.

1:55 p.m. Blake gives some suggestions on how the instruction would be modified. Boyce says he will take the issue under advisement and determine if there should be some modifications to instruction #31.

1:48 p.m. Archibald says the way this instruction reads is not how the grand jury indicted Lori. He points out words that are different and says #31 is instructing the jury “completely different than how the grand jury indicted her.” Boyce responds he does have a concern about language in the instruction and not the indictment.

1:46 p.m. No objection to #31 from the state. Lori whispers something to Archibald, he nods his head and Thomas says, “Can we have just a second judge.”

1:44 p.m. No objection to #29 from either side. Some changes will be made to #30.

1:41 p.m. Boyce agrees that some changes should be made to this instruction. It will be amended and all parties are fine with it.

1:33 p.m. State has no objection to #28. Archibald says the language in the instruction does not mirror the indictment from the grand jury. He says the jury instruction tries to fix the indictment from the grand jury and points to errors “where the and/or language has been added – that’s not what the grand jury indicted my client on.” Archibald points out other issues he has with the indictment and instruction language. He does not want the instruction allowed in. Blake responds that she doesn’t see the same issues as the defense and asks for the instruction to be read to jurors tomorrow.

1:31 p.m. No objection on either side from #26. On #27, state does not object but defense has some issues with how the amended indictment now reads. Boyce overrules the objection and it will be allowed to be read as is.

1:30 p.m. No objection from state on #25. Archibald objects to “federal agency or United States of America” language in the instruction. Objection is overruled and the instruction will be allowed in.

1:29 p.m. No objection from either side on #20, #21, #22, #23, #24.

1:25 p.m. No objection on #17 or #18 from either side. Revisions were made to #19 and state has no objection. Archibald says there is some confusion about this rule and the language in the indictment charges. Blake says they don’t see the confusion and requests the instruction remain as is. Boyce says he made some changes already and the instruction will remain.

1:21 p.m. Boyce says a sentence was added to #14 this morning and it will be given as indicated in the draft. On instruction #15, an amendment was made about exhibits. It will be admitted as it stands right now. The state has no objection to #16, defense asks court to consider other language of aiding and abetting “since they may not be defined the same we will lodge an objection.” Again – we won’t the wording of these instructions until tomorrow when the jury is here. State asks to keep the instruction as is. Boyce overrules the objection.

1:20 p.m. Prosecution has no problem with #14. Archibald says this instruction refers to Arizona crimes and believes further information will assist the jury. Blake says adding the additional information will confuse the jurors.

1:19 p.m. Instruction #12 is submitted. Instruction #13 – Lindsey Blake suggests a change from “either or both” to “any or all” since more than two are charged. Archibald says, “that makes sense because there are more than two charges.” The instruction is amended.

1:16 p.m. Boyce says instructions 1-10 have previously been instructed and read to the jurors. He will read them again to the jury tomorrow. Boyce is not reading the actual instruction right now – just the number. Neither side objects to instruction 11.

1:16 p.m. Boyce says there was an informal meeting this morning to discuss jury instructions and we will now go over the final instructions with all parties.

1:14 p.m. All of the prosecutors are at their table. Judge Boyce is on the bench.

1:03 p.m. The defense attorneys are now in the courtroom. Lori is chatting with them. Rob Wood is sitting alone at the prosecutor’s table.

12:56 p.m. We are back in the courtroom. Lori Daybell is sitting alone at her table with her back toward the audience. She is wearing a white hoodie/long-sleeved sweatshirt. Much smaller crowd today.

11:08 a.m. We’ve been told the courtroom will open at 1 p.m. I’ll begin posting updates then.

9:19 a.m. Jim Archibald just walked by and is entering the courtroom. There likely won’t be anything publicly until 11 a.m. at the earliest.

8:39 a.m. There are about 10 of us waiting outside the courtroom – mainly reporters but a few members of the public. John Prior, Chad’s attorney, just walked by.

8:26 a.m. Judge will meet with attorneys starting at 9:30 a.m. Most of the proceedings today will be held in the judge’s chambers. The parties will come out if there are arguments and need to go on the record.

8:15 a.m. Back in the courthouse and the jury is off today. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will meet with Judge Boyce to determine the instructions that will be given to the jurors before deliberations. Boyce said yesterday that these discussions will be held in his chambers off-the-record but objections will be heard publicly in the courtroom. Unclear of when their meeting will begin but I will keep this story updated all day. If you missed yesterday and need to get caught up, here’s the link.