CANYON COUNTY, Idaho — A Canyon County judge has denied a murder suspect's request to seek a different attorney after he said he wants counsel that is not part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
He also doesn't want an attorney who is Republican.
David Dalrymple, 66, was charged in 2020 with raping and killing 9-year-old Daralyn Johnson, who disappeared on Feb. 24, 1982 as she walked to school at Lincoln Elementary.
Investigators used genetic genealogy to tie Dalrymple to the murder. In December of 2000, pubic hairs from the crime scene were collected and shipped from the Canyon County Sheriff Crime Lab to Bode Labs in Lorton, Virginia. The lab was then able to build a mitochondrial profile from the DNA and narrow it down to Dalrymple's family, collect a DNA sample from him and match it together.
Dalrymple has pleaded not guilty and his jury trial is scheduled for May 13, 2024 -- but that hasn't come without a fight.
In motions filed this year, Dalrymple has accused his attorney of depriving him of his right to effectiveness of counsel and asked for a new public defender.
"I asked him to gather records showing where I truly lived, that I was at work, corruption of Caldwell Police and Canyon County Sheriff's officials and to have his investigator investigate and challenge the chain of evidence and DNA. Counsel refused," Dalrymple wrote in an April 18 memorandum, asking for new counsel.
He said in the filing he believes he is being "railroaded."
In a separate motion filed in July, Dalrymple asked again for the court to replace his counsel.
"The relationship between Dalrymple and his court appointed counsel has become unbearable," he wrote.
He also asked for a change of venue for his trial claiming the case has notoriety and he doesn't want members of law enforcement on the jury.
Dalrymple wrote he didn't want his defense attorney to be a part of the LDS church or a member of the Republican party.
"...The victim's family is very involved and influential in the Mormon church and for reasons relating to Dalrymple's current incarceration Dalrymple requested the attorneys not be a Republican," he wrote in the filing.
He also asked for more information on Charles Fain, who was convicted in Johnson's murder but later exonerated when the hairs found on her were determined to belong to someone else.
Canyon County District Judge Thomas Whitney denied Dalrymple's request on Aug. 11, but no written order has been filed within the clerk's office.
The Canyon County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment on the matter as the case is still pending. However, they will be responding to pleadings filed in the case.
The Canyon County Public Defender's Office also is unable to give out information on current cases, according to their voicemail system.
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