Daybell prosecutors say no inherent right for murder defendants to meet

Published January 15, 2023 By admin with Comments 1

Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake and Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood stated in a Thursday filing. The filing was in response to a motion filed by defense attorneys Jim Archibald and John Thomas for Lori Vallow-Daybell, so Vallow-Daybell could meet in person with her husband and co-defendant Chad Daybell.

“The state has serious reservations about allowing the codefendants to have face-to-face, or other communication directly with each other,” wrote the prosecutors. “While the state recognizes that the defendants may communicate through their counsel, and also may strategize together through their attorneys, which the state would not be a party to or have input on; there is no inherent right or privilege for the defendants to have direct communication.”

While prosecutors noted the Daybells agreed not to use information obtained during meetings for evidence, the state isn’t willing to make a similar agreement. Agreeing to such would make defendants “potential witnesses of statements made by the other defendant and eliminate any claim to attorney/client privilege,” the filing stated.

Lori Vallow-Daybell and Chad Daybell are charged in the murders of Vallow-Daybell’s two children Tylee Ryan, 16, and J.J. Vallow, 7. The children went missing the first of September 2019, and their bodies were found on June 9 buried in Chad Daybell’s Salem property. Chad Daybell is also facing first-degree murder charges in the death of his first wife Tammy Daybell.

Content retrieved from: https://www.rexburgstandardjournal.com/news/daybell-prosecutors-say-no-inherent-right-for-murder-defendants-to-meet/article_43998182-9469-11ed-ba6f-b30dcc78e85b.html.