First Week Trial Recap
Hello Good Friends!
As is common in trials, both a lot and very little happened in the first week of the Lori Vallow Daybell trial.
First, let's talk about what the atmosphere has been like. News cameras are not allowed in the courthouse, so they are stationed in an area set aside in front of the building. Inside, participants, spectators, and those citizens, and lawyers just trying to go about their regular business line up at the metal detectors for entry. Once inside, people watching the Vallow Daybell trial report to a registration table where their daily ticket is checked, and they are given a reentry ticket. This week, entry into the actual courtroom on the fourth floor has been restricted during jury selection. So instead, all spectators watch a video feed from the County Commissioner's chambers on the first floor. The room is quite comfortable, and the courthouse staff have been accommodating. The actual courtroom seats about 75 people—the overflow room with a video stream seats about 200. There have been a lot of familiar faces at the trial. Gigi McKelvey, from Pretty Lies and Alibis, has been my seatmate all week. She is covering the case for Law and Crime. Nate Eaton from East Idaho News is there, as is Justin Lum from Fox 10 Phoenix and Lauren Matthias of Hidden True Crime. Leah Sottile, author of the book, When the Moon Turns to Blood, has also been there this week. Chad Daybell's attorney, John Prior, has attended most days. Attendees obtain entry by entering their request for the next day, every day at 8 am. So far, it hasn't been difficult to get a seat.
Lots of people want to know what Lori looks like. It's a little hard to tell because of the video feed and the camera angles. The feed shows all three cameras, one trained on the judge and a camera on each counsel table. That makes all three images relatively small. To further complicate matters, the defense counsel table is in front of a large window. The light from the window washes out the image and makes it hard to see much other than silhouettes. A few images are available from the court sketch artist hired by some of the media. So far, the sketch artist seems to be having as much trouble as we are. The images are not all that accurate or flattering. I doubt Lori would be too happy about how she looks in them. Lori appears daily in some combination of slacks, a blouse, and a black cardigan. I'm told she does not have access to makeup in the Ada County jail like in Fremont County. She wears dark-framed reading glasses. Once spectators are permitted in the actual courtroom, we will have a better description for you.
Jury selection began on Monday morning. The court has been bringing in groups of 15 at a time for questioning. Some jurors are immediately dismissed because of answers on their jury questionnaires that indicate bias or hardship. The judge then reads them the introductory jury instruction and asks a few preliminary questions before turning the questioning over to the attorneys. The prosecution goes first. Jury questions also educate the jury as they go along about things like reasonable doubt and circumstantial evidence. The attorneys then may challenge jurors "for cause," meaning the questions have uncovered a bias or a hardship. The remaining jurors are "passed for cause." The court's goal is to seat a pool of 42 jurors who have been passed for cause.
Here's why 42 (and no, it's not because 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything). The jury panel will consist of 12 jurors and 6 alternates. These are the people who will hear and decide the case. Each side gets 12 peremptory challenges. These are challenges that the lawyer does not have to give a reason for. However, the attorney can't cut a juror solely because of religion, race, or gender. 42 - 12 -12 = 12 + 6 . On Wednesday afternoon, the tally stood at 39 qualified jurors.
We were notified late yesterday that jury selection wouldn't resume until 1:30 pm today, Thursday, April 6, 2023. As I write this, I am waiting for that court session to begin. The late start was to allow for an administrative hearing this morning. The issue of who is immediate family came up the week before trial, and the judge issued his decision today. He permitted Kay Woodcock to be present in the courtroom as a representative for JJ Vallow, even though she is scheduled to testify in the case. Judge Boyce ruled that Lori's son, Colby Ryan, and her sister, Summer Shiflett, are also immediate family and can be in the courtroom before they testify. Kay Woodcock's husband, Larry, must remain outside the courtroom until he testifies. It is unknown if any of them, other than Kay and Larry, will attend.
The court is expected to finish jury selection this afternoon and Friday and begin with opening statements on Monday morning.
You can follow my live tweets from the courtroom at https://twitter.com/lorihellis. Those tweets are also posted in my Facebook group, The Good Lori, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/277177093926535. In addition, I am posting YouTube shorts as I can from the courthouse.
On another note, I just made reservations in Moscow, ID, for Bryan Kohberger's preliminary hearing, scheduled for June 26 to June 30, 2023.
I'm excited to appear with Lee Wallace of Harvard Lawyer Lee on her show on Friday, April 7, 2023, at 7 pm EDT. Here is a link to her channel: https://www.youtube.com/@harvardlawyerlee. I will post a link to the actual episode on my Twitter, and Facebook feeds when it is available.
We will have a two-hour case recap on Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 6 pm PDT. Here is the link. https://youtube.com/live/BIpm-vzQ9aU
Thanks again for all the follows and the subscriptions. Please stick with me on YouTube and here in the newsletter for updates as the trial begins.
