PHOENIX (Court TV) — One day after a judge declared convicted killer Lori Vallow competent to stand trial, a second judge granted her request to represent herself at her upcoming murder trial.
Lori Vallow appeared in court on Dec. 5, where an Arizona judge found her competent to resume her trial in Arizona. (Court TV)
Vallow returned to court on Friday before Judge Justin Beresky, having been found competent by two doctors who evaluated her. At a hearing one day prior, Judge Travis Mardarosian based his decision to declare Vallow competent on the written reports by the doctors who met with Vallow on Nov. 7 and Dec. 2. Judge Madarosian found Vallow “understands the proceedings and will be able to assist counsel in her defense.”
However, Vallow was not interested in assisting counsel and renewed her request to represent herself before Judge Beresky on Friday. Beresky reminded Vallow of the risks of representing herself, noting that she would be held to the same standards as the lawyers for the prosecution. Vallow told the judge that she felt ready to handle her own case and that she had studied case law in both Idaho and Arizona in preparation for the trial. In addition to studying case law, Vallow said she has participated in three full trials.
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One of those trials was in Idaho, where Vallow was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders of her youngest two children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and her fifth husband’s first wife, Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death for the murders of his first wife, Tammy, and Vallow’s youngest children.
Vallow is currently in Arizona awaiting trial for the murder of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and the attempted murder of her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux.
Judge Beresky set Vallow’s trial for March 31, with a status conference on Jan. 10, 2025. The court-appointed attorneys who had represented her will remain on the case as standby counsel to assist Vallow as needed.
In a statement responding to the judge’s decision, Larry Woodcock, Charles Vallow’s brother-in-law and JJ’s grandfather, told Court TV: “Lori thinks she is innocent, she murdered my grandson, she is nothing more than a convicted KILLER of children and a strong, intelligent Charles Vallow…what she did to our family and friends is nothing less than pure evil.”
