Is Lori's recording a smoking gun?
Could Lori's recorded podcast
be the thing that convicts her?
November 7, 2020
Hello Friends. I'm sure you've all heard about the recording of Lori Vallow that Annie Cushing recently posted on YouTube channel. If not, you will want to listen to it. It's on her Annielytics channel, as Let's Talk Joseph Ryan.
References in the recording suggest that they are in Lori's home in Chandler, AZ. Lori is there, along with Melanie Gibb and what sounds like Chad Daybell. People have speculated that this recording may have been made during a visit they all made to Lori's home while Charles Vallow was on a business trip, and it's a reasonable assumption. Lori says her son, JJ, is six, so that pinpoints the timeframe.
The post has attracted a lot of attention because of the statements Lori makes about Joe Ryan. Lori admits, "I was going to murder him. I was going to kill him. Like the scriptures say – If he comes against you once, if he comes against you twice, if he comes against you three times…".
I've said before, I am not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I am not conversant in church doctrine. Still, her statements seem the opposite of Church teaching. I have not been able to find a specific scripture in the Book of Mormon that makes this statement. It's my understanding that church doctrine teaches that murder is an unpardonable sin. If you know the reference, please share it.
You read my newsletter for the legal perspective, so that's where I want to focus. Is this a smoking gun? Has Lori indicted herself from her own mouth? Well, maybe.
Building a legal case is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and Lori's statements are just a piece of the puzzle. For more background on the evidence rules, look at the newsletter in the archives titled Let's Talk About Evidence. For evidence to be admitted in a trial, it must be both admissible and relevant.
Clearly, Lori's statements on the recording are admissible. They are not hearsay because they are recordings of her actual statements and are not someone saying, "I heard Lori say…". Even if a judge ruled them to be hearsay, they would be admissible because they are statements of a party, which falls under an exception to the hearsay rules.
However, before we do the happy dance, we also have to ask whether the statements are relevant. Remember, relevance is judged on how the evidence relates to the charges. In this case, the statements are pretty irrelevant to the charges of conspiracy and destroying evidence. I can say with certainty that even if Rob Wood attempted to offer the recording as evidence in the present case (which I doubt he would do), the judge would reject it.
When and how does this evidence, which is so clearly damning to Lori, get before a jury? It comes in at the next trial and in an interesting way. If Lori is charged with contributing to the deaths of any of the victims, the recording comes in under
IRE 803(3)
(3) Then-Existing Mental, Emotional, or Physical Condition. A statement of the declarant's then-existing state of mind (such as motive, intent, or plan) or emotional, sensory, or physical condition (such as mental feeling, pain, or bodily health), but not including a statement of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed unless it relates to the validity or terms of the declarant's will.
We've talked earlier about motive. The prosecutor doesn't have to prove motive, but juries are reason-seeking humans. Explaining why someone did something gives the jury a hook to hang the evidence on. The evidence also comes in to show her state of mind, her possible intent, and plan.
Rob Wood could also use the recording for purposes of impeachment. If Lori and her lawyer are foolish enough to put her on the stand or to offer witnesses to testify to her reputation for peacefulness (like if Lori's sister, Summer, testified that Lori would never hurt anyone), they are considered to have "opened the door" on that line of questions. Rob Wood can then have a field day offering everything he can to show Lori's propensity for violence. There are many statements in that recording that could be used to show her state of mind. For instance, Lori says she's not sweet, she's a holy warrior.
