Judge in Chad Daybell trial seals midnight intervention

BOISE — The judge in the trial of Chad Daybell sealed a last-minute request that both the prosecution and defense want removed.

The contents of the request are unknown, but it comes from an award-winning Idaho trial lawyer who is not tied to either legal team in the case.

In Tuesday’s sealing order, Judge Steven Boyce wrote, “Both the State and the Defense have raised concerns about the impropriety of this attempt to intervene-procedurally and substantively.” He wrote that both counsels called for the document to be sealed or struck from the record.

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KSL legal analyst Greg Skordas told Utah’s Morning News the details around the request are unique.

“He (Terry Ratliff) files this message just before midnight, he’s not counsel on the case. He sends a copy of it to several lawyers who are not involved in the case, he writes the wrong case number on it,” Skordas said.

A court document shows the request is titled “Motione (sic) to intervene and to contiue (sic) the trial in these procedings (sic).”

Skordas added that while interventions are rare, attorneys usually file them on behalf of a victim or to push for more media access in the trial. East Idaho News filed its own intervention to put cameras in the courtroom during the Chad Daybell case.

“There are reasons you could do (an intervention), but it seems the judge in this case is absolutely convinced this was not an appropriate intervention,” Skordas said.

Boyce wrote in the sealing order that he would keep the seal in place until a hearing. Skordas said he thinks the sealing is there to stay.

“I kind of get the sense we’re not going to know what the motion said until after the trial,” Skordas said, “because the judge wants to preserve the integrity of the trial.”