PHOENIX (Court TV) — Convicted killer Lori Vallow Daybell has put pen to paper as she represents herself in Arizona and filed several handwritten motions in one of her cases.
Lori Vallow appeared in court on Dec. 5, where an Arizona judge found her competent to resume her trial in Arizona. (Court TV)
Daybell was convicted in Idaho for murdering her two youngest children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and conspiring to kill her fifth husband’s first wife and was sentenced to life in prison. Now, she’s in Arizona, where she faces charges of murdering her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and conspiring in an attempt to kill her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux.
The two cases in Arizona are being tried separately, with Daybell scheduled to stand trial for Vallow’s murder first. Jury selection is scheduled to start on March 31.
Daybell, who made a point of telling the judge she no longer wanted to use the name “Vallow” and solely wanted to be known as Lori Daybell in court in her first appearance as her own attorney, has now filed three motions as she continues to represent herself. The motions all focus on the case involving Boudreaux.
READ MORE | Lori Daybell argues motions in first pro se appearance in murder trial
The motions cite Arizona law requiring a speedy trial within 150 days or, in her case, 270 days if a judge has deemed the charges “complex.” Daybell has never waived her right to a speedy trial and maintains in the motions that waiting until the completion of the murder trial to face the second case violates that right.
‘The alleged crime occurred over 5 years ago,” Daybell said in the motion. “The State of Arizona has had plenty of time to figure this out! At no time has the state ever been willing to combine these 2 charges into one trial. Why did they not schedule 2 trials at the arraignment? Why did the state arraign the defendant for both cases on the same day knowing that they could not provide 2 separate speedy trials?”
In a response on Jan. 24, Judge Justin Beresky denied the motion, saying, “Each continuance of the trial date was based on the extraordinary circumstances of this case (mainly the outsized amount of discovery) and delay was indispensable to the interests of justice.” The order confirmed that the second trial would begin “soon after the conclusion” of her first trial, “assuming the Defendant is prepared to proceed with back-to-back trials.”
A second motion accuses the State, specifically prosecutor Treena Kay, of interfering with her right to gather evidence for her defense. An email purportedly from Kay to the Daybell defense team was attached to the motion, purportedly referencing a public records request to the Gilbert, Arizona, Police Department. Kay said in the email, “In the future, will you please make all requests for additional discovery to me. I am happy to facilitate the disclosure of relevant discovery.”
Daybell has requested an evidentiary hearing and copies of all communications between the prosecutor’s office and the Gilbert Police Department. In a response filed on Jan. 17, Kay provided a notice that all communications with the Chandler Police Department between May 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025, had been given to the defendant.
