Lori Vallow: Massive pile of audio evidence uncovered in 'Cult mom' case including 3,000 phone calls
MADISON COUNTY, IDAHO: Lori Vallow's attorneys gave the judge a few last-minute motions prior to the trial's start. This unfolds as the attorneys for Vallow are hustling through enormous evidence, including roughly 3,000 brand-new phone calls.
The first motion sent out to the judge was reportedly already granted by Idaho District Judge Steven Boyce in December 2022. The motion required the prosecution to provide Vallow's attorney with copies of any written and recorded statements made by Chad Daybell, according to The Sun. The phone calls and recordings from five in-custody visits were given over as evidence, although it is unknown who Daybell was speaking to or what the conversations from those five visits were about. Clearly, the defense didn't like how the audio samples were delivered to them. The judge then ordered the prosecution to turn over the taped phone calls by February 27. His order was upheld as the prosecution turned over the evidence at 4.17 pm on the day of the deadline.
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'We do not believe it was a late disclosure'
The defense for Vallow is now submitting a new motion to dismiss the calls, claiming they were not given enough time to thoroughly listen to the massive pile of clips. John Thomas, Vallow's attorney, stated, "Obviously we are very close to the commencement of trial in this so we have limited time to get through these," according to East Idaho News.
Vallow's other attorney, Jim Archibald, added, "To dump 5,000 pages on us on February 27, hours of videos and audio recordings and another 3,000 phone calls two days ago, it's just really disappointing that we had to wait this long to get all the discovery."
Prosecutors countered that they never intended to withhold evidence and noted that Vallow's present legal counsel had not yet been appointed when the order was made. Rob Wood, the prosecuting attorney for Madison County, stated, "We do not believe it was a late disclosure. We believe February 27 was the deadline. The state has always endeavored to disclose what we have."
What was the last motion that Lori Vallow's attorney submitted to the judge?
The last motion of the hearing, which Vallow's attorney made after expressing their displeasure at having to go through enormous evidence, seemed to be a big move. Archibald made the motion to nullify the possibility of the death penalty "due to the cumulative of errors," according to The Sun.
Archibald said, "Media saturation, multiple violations by the government, the government's knowledge of my client's mental health, and the practical standpoint that Idaho has been trying to kill people on death row and hasn't been able to do it because the Idaho Department of Correction can't get chemicals to kill people."
Prosecutors countered that it was too soon to talk about this and that the death penalty will be discussed when Vallow will be tried and sentenced. The judge said he would make his decisions known at a hearing on March 22.
Both Vallow and Daybell are facing separate trials for the murders of Tammy Daybell, Daybell's ex-wife, and Vallow's children Joshua 'JJ' Vallow and Tylee Ryan, ages 7 and 16, respectively. Daybell's trial will be postponed until after Vallow's, which will still take place on April 3 as scheduled. Daybell waived his right to a speedy trial, but Vallow did not.