BOISE, Idaho — Alexandra Duggan is reporting from inside the courthouse. Follow for live updates, and her Twitter @dugganreports.
The murder trial in the case against Lori Vallow, or Lori Vallow Daybell, finished its second day of jury selection -- and there is still a ways to go.
The court aims to get to a pool of 42 potential jurors in order to narrow down to their 12 jurors and six alternates, who will be the final jurors overseeing the trial. On Monday, three groups of around 15 jurors were brought in and questioned by the defense and prosecution in the process known as "voir dire," in order to eliminate jurors who have biases that could skew the fairness of the trial.
At the end of the day Tuesday, the court had 30 potential jurors they have picked to move into the next phase. The prosecution said they "felt rushed," and given the nature of the case they would have liked to take more time for questioning.
Vallow is charged with murder, conspiracy and grand theft related to the deaths of her two children, Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and her husband's late wife, Tammy Daybell, in eastern Idaho. Her husband Chad Daybell is also charged in the murders and will be tried separately in Ada County at a date still to be determined. Prosecutors were previously seeking the death penalty against Vallow but it was later taken off the table by a judge as a way to sanction the prosecution for late discovery disclosure.
LIVE UPDATES
Update 5:30 p.m.: The court has made it up to 30 potential jurors they have weeded out. Twelve more are needed to begin the next stage, which will give the court their final jury. It will continue Wednesday.
Update: 3:45 p.m.: The last panel of potential jurors for Tuesday are brought in for voir dire. Six have been eliminated, leaving six left -- this panel was smaller than normal because three people did not show up.
Update 3:07 p.m.: Only three potential jurors out of the fifth panel have passed to the next phase. This brings the pool of potential jurors who have passed voir dire to 25. It is unlikely the court will reach 42 people today.
Update 1:50 pm.: The fifth panel of jurors were brought in, making this the second panel of the day. Eight potential jurors were immediately dismissed based on their answers to the jury questionnaire.
Update 12:30 p.m.: Five potential jurors have passed through the fourth panel. This makes 22 jurors moving on for the next phase of questioning. The last juror to be excused said she believes people that murder "usually have a relationship" in some way. She said Lori Vallow "could have had something to do with it" because she was JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan's mom. "Wouldn't a mother know where her kids were?" the juror asked. She was excused after the judge found a potential of bias.
Update 12:08 p.m.: Most jurors in this panel have some knowledge of the case, but minimal. Jim Archibald, Vallow's attorney, is being very particular about what the jurors know and where they received the knowledge from. Just because a potential juror may have some knowledge of the case does not mean they cannot move on to the next phase -- two jurors have moved ahead to the next phase even though they have seen news headlines about Vallow.
Update 11:25 a.m.: The judge has allowed individual voir dire regarding media exposure to be streamed into the overflow room. One juror says the last time she heard about the Lori Vallow case was when JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were found buried on Chad Daybell's property in 2020. The defense moved to excuse her, and the judge agreed. The panel is down to seven potential jurors.
Update 10:47 a.m.: Prosecution is asking about juror's understanding of what conspiracy means -- "Is the person who drove the getaway car as guilty as the bank robber?" Jurors agree under the law, the "getaway car" driver would be guilty. Jurors also agree they could convict someone even if they weren't shown exactly how a victim died.
Update 10:27 a.m.: Nine jurors are left after another one was excused. Rachel Smith, a Missouri-based attorney assisting the prosecution, is nailing down the importance of jury instructions and jurors following the court's orders as well as the law.
Smith reminds the group that the state must prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, but it doesn't mean there still might be questions in play.
Update 9:50 a.m.: Five jurors have been excused due to financial hardships or family responsibilities, leaving 10 jurors in the first group of the morning. Fremont County Judge Steven Boyce asks those who know of the case to raise their hands -- and he indicates that everyone in the panel knows something about the Vallow case from media coverage. Boyce also reminds the potential jurors there is still a chance of sequestering the jury for the entire trial, which is predicted to be 8-10 weeks.
Update 9:20 a.m.: Court has begun Tuesday morning with the fourth group of potential jurors. It is unclear if the court will get to their goal, 42 jurors, today. Media and the public are not allowed in the courtroom with the jurors in order to protect their identities -- those watching the jury selection are located in a separate room with a live camera feed streaming from the courtroom. Vallow seems to be wearing a black blazer and a white shirt, sitting between her two attorneys Jim Archibald and John Thomas. She is taking notes on a notepad.
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