FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho — Chad Daybell's attorney filed three motions in Fremont County on Thursday, two of which ask the judge to throw out the death penalty if Daybell is convicted of murder.
The other filing asks that prosecutors only be allowed to argue the same core theory in their prosecution of Daybell that they argued in his wife Lori Vallow Daybell's murder trial.
Daybell and his wife were charged as co-defendants in the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and Lori's children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan. In addition to conspiracy to murder and first-degree murder charges in the deaths, Daybell also faces two counts of insurance fraud and one count of grand theft.
Lori was found guilty of murdering her children and conspiring to kill Tammy in May of this year. She was sentenced to life in prison.
Daybell's trial is set for April 1, 2024 in front of Fremont County District Judge Steven Boyce, with a pretrial conference scheduled several weeks prior on February 22.
The death penalty was taken off the table for Lori due to a late discovery submission by the prosecution, but Daybell still faces death.
That was the nexus of Daybell's attorney's motions to strike the death penalty -- one motion states the judge should strike the punishment based on "relative culpability" and the other asks the judge to strike it as "arbitrary, capricious & disproportionate in light of striking death in co-defendant's case".
Daybell's attorney John Prior requests Judge Boyce take the death penalty off the table so that Daybell faces a maximum punishment in line with Lori's sentence of life in prison.
Prior stated in the new filings that during his upcoming hearing on November 29 regarding cameras and photos in the courtroom, he will ask the judge to set a hearing on the three motions filed Thursday.
Motion to strike death penalty based on relative culpability
In the motion to take the death penalty off the table based on relative culpability, Prior argues that during Lori's trial, prosecutors consistently argued she was the most culpable party to the alleged conspiracy that led to the deaths of Tylee, JJ and Tammy.
Prior points to arguments made by prosecutors that Lori set the conspiracy in motion and manipulated Daybell through "emotional and sexual control" and manipulated her brother, Alex Cox.
Because of statements made during that trial, Prior believes Daybell has less culpability than Lori, who did not face the death penalty.
"Even when two co-defendants are equally culpable, it is unconstitutional and unacceptable to subject one of them to the most extreme punishment available, while the other did not face that possibility," Prior wrote, "Therefore, Mr. Daybell should not face more extreme punishment than the codefendant that the State itself has alleged to be more culpable."
He goes on to say even when it is determined two co-defendants have the same level of culpability, "it is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual to sentence one to death, while the other does not receive such sentence." Therefore, Prior states, a death sentence would "violate constitutional principles requiring equal justice under law, and would be unconstitutionally disproportionate, excessive, fundamentally unfair, and arbitrary and capricious."
Motion to strike death penalty as arbitrary, capricious & disproportionate in light of striking death in co-defendant's case
Daybell and his wife's cases were severed prior to Lori's trial -- Lori asserted her right to a speedy trial, while Chad waived his right to a speedy trial. Prior argues they should not face different punishments because of that.
He believes the death penalty should be tossed in his client's case to avoid a situation where the decision of whether Daybell lives or dies depends on Lori's decision not to waive her speedy trial rights, as opposed to the two defendants' levels of culpability.
"In this case, there is a single distinguishing feature that explains why the State continues to seek the death penalty against Mr. Daybell even after it was struck against Ms. Vallow," Prior writes, "Mr. Daybell waived his right to speedy trial. Willingness to waive speedy trial rights cannot constitutionally be the deciding factor in who lives and who dies."
Motion in limine to limit state to consistent arguments
In this motion, Prior is asking the judge to limit the state's arguments in Chad's trial to the same core theory they presented in Lori's trial.
He says the state should be limited to arguing only levels of "relative culpability" that are consistent with what was argued during Lori's trial and sentencing, especially if the State continues to seek the death penalty in Daybell's case and not Lori's.
Prosecutors argued that Lori was the "driving force" behind the conspiracy leading to the three deaths, Prior wrote, and Vallow controlled her plan from the outset by using her brother through emotional and religious manipulation and using Daybell through emotional and sexual manipulation. Based on what the state showed and told jurors in Lori's trial, Daybell would not have acted without direction from Lori, Prior stated.
Prior tells the judge it would go against due process rights and fairness and would be cruel and unusual punishment to allow the state to present a different theory of its case in Daybell's trial.
"To remain consistent with the core of the State’s case against Ms. Vallow, the State must be limited to arguing that Chad followed Lori‘s leads throughout the alleged conspiracy that Lori herself set in motion," Prior wrote in his motion. "Especially in co-defendant case where only one defendant faces the possibility of death penalty, the relative culpability of each defendant goes to the core of the prosecution's case and directly impacts the constitutionality of any resulting sentence."
Watch more on the trial of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell:
See all of the latest coverage in our YouTube playlist:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.