Idaho court denies Chad Daybell’s motions to strike death penalty
Dec 20, 2023, 5:34 PM | Updated: 6:35 pm
Chad Daybell watches during Lori Vallow's extradition hearing in Hawaii on Feb. 21, 2020.
An Idaho court has denied Chad Guy Daybell‘s motions to strike the death penalty in his murder trial scheduled for 2024.
The Fremont County Court denied both parts of the two-pronged legal effort to take away the possibility of being put to death if he is found guilty of multiple murders. He faces murder charges for his late wife Tammy Daybell and charges for the deaths of the children of his current wife Lori Vallow Daybell, convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
READ MORE: Click here for complete coverage of the Lori Vallow Daybell trial
The remains of those children — Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow — were found on Chad Daybell’s property on June 9, 2020. He was arrested that day and was initially charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of the children with first-degree murder charges coming later, after he was in custody.
The judge denied the motion to strike the death penalty based on relative culpability and the claim that Daybell is being disproportionally punished for waiving his right to a speedy trial.
On the first motion to strike the death penalty based on relative culpability, the judge wrote:
The Court has carefully reviewed the cited authority by Daybell and the State and finds that the case law does not suggest that degrees of culpability are appropriately determined by courts ahead of trial. To do so would defy the fundamental right to a fair trial by a jury of one’s peers.
And also stated:
… the salient point remains: it is the duty of jurors, not this Court, to determine the facts of this case——including deliberating about whether the State meets its burden to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Daybell is guilty of the mirroring charges raised against both Daybell and Vallow.
In the second motion Daybell’s legal team claimed he was being punished by facing the death penalty because he waived his right to a speedy trial, while his wife Lori Vallow Daybell, did not face the death penalty and did not waive her right to a speedy trial.
In the ruling the court states:
Retaining the death penalty as a sentencing option is, in no uncertain terms, neither punitive nor resultant for Daybell having waived his right to speedy trial. The ability of the State to seek capital punishment in Daybell’s upcoming trial was a foreseeable result when the cases were severed.
The full document is at the end of this story. It further states:
Neither will the Court invade the province of the jury to determine the facts of this case or stand inviolate of Idaho’s capital punishment statutes. The State of Idaho is well within its express enumerated power to seek the death penalty and has maintained its intention to do so throughout this case.
Chad Daybell was born in Provo, Utah and lived in Springville, graduating from Brigham Young University after studying communication.
He faces charges of:
- First-degree murder for the death of Tammy Daybell.
- First-degree murder for the death of Tylee Ryan.
- First-degree murder for the death of J.J. Vallow.
- Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception for the death of Tylee Ryan.
- Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception for the death of J.J. Vallow.
- Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the death of Tammy Daybell.
- Insurance fraud for a life insurance policy he held on Tammy Daybell. He received payment after her death.
- Another count of insurance fraud
For much more on the Lori Vallow Daybell trial and those involved, please visit: KSLTV.com/lori-vallow-daybell-trial/
Court denies Daybell motions to strike death penalty by LarryDCurtis on Scribd
