FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho — An attorney for Chad Daybell is asking the judge to throw out his grand jury indictment on murder charges.
Daybell is charged with killing the children of his wife, Lori Vallow, who is also charged with their murder. Daybell is also accused of murdering his former wife, Tammy Daybell.
At a hearing Wednesday, defense attorney John Prior asked the judge to throw out the indictment by a grand jury, arguing that the jurors selected were "not impartial and not unbiased."
Prior pointed to the "pervasive media coverage" of the case, which began when 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan disappeared after moving to Idaho with their mother.
The remains of both children were unearthed on Daybell's property in June 2020.
"The potential sentence in this case is death," Prior said. "The magnitude of the charge is what's important here, and when you're considering the validity or the impartiality of a grand jury proceeding, you have to take into consideration the consequences and result of that."
The prosecution opposed the motion to dismiss.
"It is the state's position that there are no grounds established by the defendant that would support the finding that the indictment needs to be set aside," Prosecutor Lindsey Blake said in the hearing.
It's unclear when Judge Steven Boyce will make a decision on the motion. Earlier this week, Boyce denied a petition to hold separate trials for Daybell and Vallow.
Vallow, who investigators say believed her children had become "zombies" or inhabited by evil spirits, has been ruled incompetent to stand trial. She continues to be treated and evaluated in a state-run facility.
The trial is set for January 2023.
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