Chad Daybell gets his day in court.

[Res Ipsa]

LDS author and fringe cult leader Chad Daybell's day in court begins tomorrow, with opening statements scheduled for 9:00 AM MDT. As was true with his wife, Lori, his trial is being held in Boise because of the potential bias from media coverage in Rexburg. He is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and Lori's two children, JJ and Tylie.
He was present at Tammy's death, and children's bodies were found buried at his home.

Lori was tried and convicted last year and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. She is scheduled to be tried for the murder of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, in Arizona next year.

There are two main differences between the trials. The death penalty had to be dismissed in Lori's trial. Unlike Chad, she didn't waive her right to a speedy trial. In the rush to prepare, the prosecution was late in disclosing some evidence it intended to use, and the judge took the death penalty off the table. Chad faces the death penalty.

Lori's trial was not televised out of concern for prejudicing potential jurors in Chad's trial. Chad's trial will be televised.

I listened to a fair amount of the jury selection, which took a week. Unlike Lori's lawyers, Chad's have represented that they will put up a vigorous defense. (Lori handcuffed her lawyers by not letting them pursue a "brainwashing" defense, with Chad as the mastermind.) Chad's lawyer will apparently throw Lori under the bus. He talked a lot in voir dire about the notion that "all that glitters is not gold." It sounds like he will portray Chad as understandably lying about his affair with Lori (who among us doesn't lie?), but that doesn't mean he is lying about murders.

The case is estimated to last from eight to ten weeks.

Hands down, the most in depth coverage of the murders has been done by the Hidden True Crime podcast. https://hiddentruecrime.com Lauren Mathias is former TV reporter who has conducted some pretty amazing interviews with friends, former friends, and relatives of Chad and Lori. Her husband John is a criminal psychologist who prepares psychological evaluations of inmates in connection with parole hearings. They have a series called "Beyond the Veil" that is an in-depth and insightful look at how fringe LDS beliefs metastasized into four murders.

HTC is carrying the livestream of the trial on its youtube channel, as is the East Idaho news. https://www.eastidahonews.com Reporter Nate Eaton has done an excellent job covering the murders.

[yellowstone123]

I watched a little bit from a hearing a while ago. Chad's attorney complained to the judge that he has been asking for another attorney for over a year which was normal in death penalty cases. He said Chad was broke.

Someone pointed out that he is broke because he has lost everything and Chad signed the deed to the house and land he owned over to the attorney making the argument, which means the children from his first wife are left with nothing.

[yellowstone123]

Also, is this a first degree murder - death penalty or acquittal or can he be found guilty of something like 2nd degree if the prosecution doesn't prove it's case to that level of a death penalty conviction.

[Kishkumen]

LDS author and fringe cult leader Chad Daybell's day in court begins tomorrow, with opening statements scheduled for 9:00 AM MDT. As was true with his wife, Lori, his trial is being held in Boise because of the potential bias from media coverage in Rexburg. He is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the deaths of his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and Lori's two children, JJ and Tylie.
He was present at Tammy's death, and children's bodies were found buried at his home.

Lori was tried and convicted last year and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. She is scheduled to be tried for the murder of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, in Arizona next year.

There are two main differences between the trials. The death penalty had to be dismissed in Lori's trial. Unlike Chad, she didn't waive her right to a speedy trial. In the rush to prepare, the prosecution was late in disclosing some evidence it intended to use, and the judge took the death penalty off the table. Chad faces the death penalty.

Lori's trial was not televised out of concern for prejudicing potential jurors in Chad's trial. Chad's trial will be televised.

I listened to a fair amount of the jury selection, which took a week. Unlike Lori's lawyers, Chad's have represented that they will put up a vigorous defense. (Lori handcuffed her lawyers by not letting them pursue a "brainwashing" defense, with Chad as the mastermind.) Chad's lawyer will apparently throw Lori under the bus. He talked a lot in voir dire about the notion that "all that glitters is not gold." It sounds like he will portray Chad as understandably lying about his affair with Lori (who among us doesn't lie?), but that doesn't mean he is lying about murders.

The case is estimated to last from eight to ten weeks.

Hands down, the most in depth coverage of the murders has been done by the Hidden True Crime podcast. https://hiddentruecrime.com Lauren Mathias is former TV reporter who has conducted some pretty amazing interviews with friends, former friends, and relatives of Chad and Lori. Her husband John is a criminal psychologist who prepares psychological evaluations of inmates in connection with parole hearings. They have a series called "Beyond the Veil" that is an in-depth and insightful look at how fringe LDS beliefs metastasized into four murders.

HTC is carrying the livestream of the trial on its youtube channel, as is the East Idaho news. https://www.eastidahonews.com Reporter Nate Eaton has done an excellent job covering the murders.

Thank you for this enlightening and informative post from your legal expertise.

[Res Ipsa]

Also, is this a first degree murder - death penalty or acquittal or can he be found guilty of something like 2nd degree if the prosecution doesn't prove it's case to that level of a death penalty conviction.

No. If Chad is found guilty, there will be a second trial with the same jury. The jury will decide between death and life imprisonment without parole. I don't know whether Chad can be found guilty on a lesser included offense. I haven't heard anyone refer to that as a possibility.

[yellowstone123]

Thank you, Res Ipsa. I'd have to do a little research and I think it's done or has been done before but not sure in Idaho.

[Doctor Steuss]

No. If Chad is found guilty, there will be a second trial with the same jury. The jury will decide between death and life imprisonment without parole. I don't know whether Chad can be found guilty on a lesser included offense. I haven't heard anyone refer to that as a possibility.

Is this a state-specific thing, or the basic rule of thumb for death penalty cases? It was my (incorrect?) understanding that judges were the sole arbiters of sentencing (in conjunction with whatever requisite mandatory/minimum sentencing guidelines exist).

[yellowstone123]

When I was in California as a youth, Jerry Brown appointed Rose Bird as Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. She and a few others on the bench overturned every death penalty case that was presented to the court. I knew one of the cases kind of well and it sent the community and surrounding areas into the stratosphere. In 1978 She and two other justices were voted out because the people had had enough.

If Chad Daybell is convicted and sentenced to death, he will get many lawyers assigned for the appeals. They in turn will hire investigators and it will go on for years and years. That's the argument many opponents make for abolishing the death penalty as the cost is staggering. Monthly bills are submitted to the court for the hours worked by the lawyers and who they hire. They say sentence him to life and buy 100 MRI and 100 CT machines for those who have little access to those machines and health care.

At the same time people write to their congressman and say Mercy cannot rob Justice.

[Res Ipsa]

No. If Chad is found guilty, there will be a second trial with the same jury. The jury will decide between death and life imprisonment without parole. I don't know whether Chad can be found guilty on a lesser included offense. I haven't heard anyone refer to that as a possibility.

Is this a state-specific thing, or the basic rule of thumb for death penalty cases? It was my (incorrect?) understanding that judges were the sole arbiters of sentencing (in conjunction with whatever requisite mandatory/minimum sentencing guidelines exist).

It’s specific to the death penalty. The Supreme Court has held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial applies to the finding of “aggravating factors” In death penalty cases.

[Res Ipsa]

When I was in California as a youth, Jerry Brown appointed Rose Bird as Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. She and a few others on the bench overturned every death penalty case that was presented to the court. I knew one of the cases kind of well and it sent the community and surrounding areas into the stratosphere. In 1978 She and two other justices were voted out because the people had had enough.

If Chad Daybell is convicted and sentenced to death, he will get many lawyers assigned for the appeals. They in turn will hire investigators and it will go on for years and years. That's the argument many opponents make for abolishing the death penalty as the cost is staggering. Monthly bills are submitted to the court for the hours worked by the lawyers and who they hire. They say sentence him to life and buy 100 MRI and 100 CT machines for those who have little access to those machines and health care.

At the same time people write to their congressman and say Mercy cannot rob Justice.

Just as background, the Supreme Court threw out the death penalty as it was being applied in all states in 1972. After that, there was a period of time in which state legislatures tried to enact the death penalty in a way that complied with the Court’s constitutional standards. I remember the controversy over Rose Bird in California.

Over the last few decades, some limits have been placed on death penalty appeals. But they are still time consuming and expensive. Many rural counties can’t afford them, which results in an inconsistency in application between rural and urban counties. That inconsistency is one of the reasons Washington State abolished the death penalty last year.