BOISE, Idaho — Tensions were high in an Ada County Courtroom Thursday, as a clerical error on Chad Daybell's indictment prompted the presiding judge to evaluate and reconsider one of the first-degree murder charges brought against him.
Daybell is facing first-degree murder charges in the deaths of his wife Lori Vallow's children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, as well as his former wife Tammy Daybell, among other charges.
Less than an hour after state prosecutors rested their case in Daybell's triple murder trial, Judge Steven Boyce dropped a bombshell regarding an error identified in the murder indictment, potentially altering the direction, and therefore outcome, of the case.
After the state formally concluded their arguments and jurors were dismissed for the day, Judge Boyce heard arguments from the defense in what is typically a pretty standard motion hearing, in which the defense likely makes one last plea, requesting an acquittal for the defendant.
However, in an unrelated and unforeseen twist of events, Boyce noticed a significant error in Daybell's indictment. Court documents reflected incorrect dates on count four of the indictment, which is the first-degree murder charge for JJ Vallow.
As justice for JJ hung in the balance, his grandfather Larry Woodcock stood outside the courthouse - confused, surprised and disheartened, as he awaited the judge's ruling. "Right now, it's very confusing, I'm very disappointed. I'm very hurt. And I don't I don't know what the rulings going to be. Nobody does...I just want a fair, just, honorable and righteous ruling by the court."
Defense attorney John Prior requested the judge make a "directed verdict," which is a ruling from the judge rather than the jury if the judge determines that there is no "legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to reach a different conclusion." He argued that the state's provided evidence was insufficient and that there is no indication that Daybell was present for the murders of JJ and Tylee.
Following Prior's arguments, Boyce stated that he was prepared to make a ruling. However, the language error in the indictment for the murder of JJ Vallow had the potential to severely alter the direction and continuance of Daybell's murder trial, and therefore had to be addressed separately.
"I will hope that the murder of JJ will be kept into evidence," Woodcock said.
The death dates listed for JJ Vallow in the indictment are actually the suspected death dates for Tylee Ryan, sometime between Sept. 8 and Sept. 9, 2019. JJ Vallow is presumed to have died between Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, according to prosecutors.
Although likely a clerical mistake, Idaho state law prohibits amendments to an indictment after the state officially rests its case.
Prior argued that the count 4 charge of first-degree murder should be dropped, stating the prosecution "lost their chance" to edit the indictment and "don't get to go back." "Judge, I'm asking the court to dismiss this charge," Prior said.
The prosecution presented three possible solutions: One was for the judge to overrule state law on indictment amendments post-rest and simply correct the record, the second was to accept the mistake and instruct the jury accordingly, and the last proposed solution was for Boyce to reject modifying the indictment and reopen the case.
"Your honor, we're all kind of falling on our sword here," Prior contested. "This was clearly an oversight. We're talking about a clerical error in a subsequent document that was not in the initial document. This is exactly the type of mistake or inadvertence that the court could reopen this case for."
Boyce recessed the motion hearing and gave the state two hours to prepare for argument, scheduled to resume at 2:30 p.m. The hearing reconvened for approximately 30 minutes before recessing again to allow the judge to consider all possible options and outcomes before making a final ruling on the validity of count 4, charging Daybell with first-degree murder of JJ Vallow.
Judge Boyce ultimately denied all requests and challenges posed by the defense, justifying his decision based on valid witness testimonials, sufficient evidence provided by the state; and most significantly, Boyce denied challenges to count 4, citing that the court "did not authorize" the February amendment in which the typo mistake was made.
Court is scheduled to reconvene Monday, May 20, with Daybell's attorney presenting his case to the jury.
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