ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (Scripps News Boise) – On Thursday, a judge denied Lori Vallow Daybell‘s motion for a new trial after hearing arguments from her defense team.
In May, Lori was found guilty on six criminal counts, including the murders of her two children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and conspiracy in the death of her fifth husband’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.
Lori Vallow Daybell can be seen smiling as she leaves court in video obtained by East Idaho News. (Jordan Wood, EastIdahoNews.com)
In their motion, defense attorneys argued the jury instructions were confusing. The defense also said that they believe that the jury was influenced by “outside sources,” and at least one of the jurors had information that was not entered into evidence. Attorneys say that information came to light during a post-trial interview with East Idaho News.
Kaitlyn Hart, of East Idaho News, was present and tweeting from the courtroom during today’s hearing regarding the defense motion for a new trial.
WATCH: Lori Vallow Daybell Sentencing: What to Expect
The defense team presented the reasons they believed merited the granting of a new trial.
The defense began challenging the change in the charges in the original indictment. The amendment of the indictment had changed the number of conspirators listed from “5” to “2 or more”. It also amended wording in the grand theft charges from “and” to “and/or”.
The defense argued that the prosecution did not provide proper notice of this change in the charges against the defendant. The prosecution argued that the indictment may be amended at any time before the prosecution rests.
Judge Steven Boyce, who has been presiding over all proceedings, denied the motion, stating that there was no indication of a fatal variance between the original and final indictment.
The defense also alleged that the jurors were not properly instructed and presented that a specific juror showed knowledge of information not presented in the trial.
This related to Juror No. 8, who gave a post-trial interview to Nate Eaton of East Idaho News, where they discussed the police body-cam footage interviewing Charles Vallow about Lori, which was not presented in the trial. The prosecution refuted this claim stating that the juror became privy to that information after the jury had given its verdict and had been released.
Towards the end of his argument, Jim Archibald stated that if the judge granted their request for a new trial, they would expect Lori’s trial to be reset and combined back with her husband, Chad Daybell’s April 2024 trial. Archibald explained it was never their decision to sever their cases. It was a request of Chad Daybell’s.
Judge Boyce addressed this motion by first informing the court that he had not seen the interview. It had not been submitted to the court in an affidavit, therefore could not be seen/treated as evidence.
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He secondarily explained that jurors had been required to sign a daily declaration that they had not received any improper prejudicial information, as specifically instructed by the court.
Citing insufficient evidence, Judge Boyce denied the motion for granting a new trial.
Currently, Lori is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31, also in Fremont County.
Vallow Daybell is also facing charges related to incidents that happened in Arizona.
This story was originally published on June 15, 2023, by KIVI in Boise, an E.W. Scripps Company. Court TV Staff contributed to this story.
