Chad Daybell appears in court for status hearing

Chad Daybell was in court Tuesday via Zoom for a status conference that dealt with cameras in the courtroom and jury questions.

Daybell was indicted by a grand jury in May 2021 for multiple counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder in the deaths of 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, and for his first wife, Tammy Daybell. He is also charged with two counts of insurance fraud regarding Tammy Daybell’s life insurance policies.

Tuesday’s status hearing set how long to distribute the questions to the jury pool in motion.

Representing the state, Attorney Lindsey Blake said that the state is recommending two weeks in March to be enough time to get those processed, and if done early enough, they can start the trial earlier.

Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce said the process will likely start on March 18, 2024, and the trial will start on April 1, 2024.

The other part of the hearing involved looking at the length of the court case. Boyce asked both sides if the eight weeks worked with them.

“Given some of the differences between this one versus the companion case, including that it is a death penalty case, I think having that longer period of time for the trial is appropriate and would give us enough coverage if we set it for the eight weeks,” Blake said.

Daybell‘ s attorney, John Prior, said he’d agree with the eight weeks to have enough time to include expert witnesses.

Regarding having cameras in the courtroom, Boyce scheduled a hearing for Nov. 29 to discuss the issue in the event media wanted to intervene.

Boyce said that in October 2020, both Daybell and Lori Vallow were in a single trial until March 2023 when the cases were severed. However, the motion can be brought up again due to them being separate cases now.

Prior filed a motion to allow cameras in the courtroom. However, the motion can be brought up again due to them being separate cases now.

“The separate cases may have separate rationale for allowing or disallowing cameras in the courtroom during the trial,” Boyce said.

He said the last time it was discussed, the state opposed having cameras in the courtroom while the defense favored it.

Prior said he would rather have the hearing and that Daybell hasn’t changed his mind on the order.

“He still maintains his feeling in having a public trial,” Prior said.

At the end of the hearing, Blake argued that the state would like to have a monthly date set in case they need to file any motions. Boyce said the Nov. 29 date would work for this if any motions are brought up.

The other motion that was brought up was a deadline for discovery, specifically on expert deadlines.

“I’d like a deadline on disclosure of all witnesses and discovery deadline as well, so I can make sure I can give everything to the state, so we don’t run into the same problem that we did where the state did not give any of the discovery to us on time,” Prior said.

Boyce said the scheduling order will remain in effect but will look to see if any clarification is needed. If so, he said they would issue an amended order, but they will schedule a hearing if it is drastic.