FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho (Court TV) — The attorney representing convicted murderer Lori Vallow Daybell has filed a notice of an appeal, citing 16 issues at her trial.
This Aug. 8, 2023 booking photo provided by the Idaho Dept. of Corrections shows Lori Vallow Daybell after she was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. (Idaho Dept. of Corrections)
Lori was convicted of conspiracy and murder for the deaths of her two youngest children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, as well as her husband’s first wife, Tammy Daybell. She was sentenced on July 21 to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Court TV’s Legendary Trials: ID v. Lori Vallow Daybell (2023)
The notice, filed on Aug. 31, lists a number of issues with the case, beginning before the jury ever entered the courtroom. The first issue raised in the filing was the Court’s finding that Lori was competent to stand trial on April 11, 2022, after she spent 10 months in a psychiatric facility. The filing also references the Court’s denial of a defense motion to return Lori to the facility on November 15, 2022, rather than proceed to trial.
Lori’s trial was severed from that of her husband, Chad Daybell, when he waived his right to a speedy trial and she did not. Despite the speed with which her case went to trial, Lori’s defense questioned whether her right to a speedy trial was violated by repeated requests by the prosecution to delay proceedings.
The motion for appeal pointed to errors in jury selection, opening statements, evidence shown to the jury and testimony allowed at her trial all as a basis for throwing out the conviction, and even challenged Lori’s sentence, asking, “Did the sentencing court abuse its discretion by ordering the defendant to serve three consecutive fixed life sentences without parole?” The motion further asks whether the Court further abused its discretion by ordering Lori to pay $165,018 in fines and court costs, despite her indigent status.
Jim Archibald, who represented Lori at trial, filed the appeal. He also filed a motion for the state to appoint an appellate public defender in her case.
Lori is currently facing extradition to Arizona, where she was indicted on charges she conspired to kill her niece’s ex-husband as well as her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
