An Idaho judge on Thursday denied a request by Doomsday author Chad Daybell’s lawyer to be removed from the high-profile death penalty case just two months before trial.
John Prior, who has been Daybell’s defense attorney for the last three years, filed a motion last week to withdraw from the case. The defense lawyer argued that he should be removed from the case because he is not qualified to handle the death penalty case that is set to begin in April and Daybell cannot pay for his continued legal services.
“I came to realize in late December that the amount of work I'm going to need to do before the trial was to such an extent that it would create a situation where all of the things I need to do for the trial by April 1 could not get done,” Prior said at a Thursday hearing about his motion.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I don't desire to get off this case. I want to stay on this case and regardless of Mr. Daybell's financial situation, I want to stay on this case. I could care less about this money. Mr. Daybell wants me to stay on this case,” he added. “I don't have any choice other than to withdraw. The primary reason I'm withdrawing is there is no mechanism that allows Mr. Daybell to get additional assistance unless I withdraw.”
Prosecutors allege that Daybell and his wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, murdered her two children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, in Sept. 2019 and conspired to murder his first wife, 49-year-old Tammy Daybell, a month later. The couple was allegedly driven by a shared belief in a renegade branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a need for money to start their new life in Hawaii.
Vallow was sentenced to life in prison in July in connection with the case. State prosecutors, however, believe that Prior’s argument that he is asking to be dismissed from the case for his client’s benefit is just a delay tactic.
In a Wednesday motion, prosecutors noted that Daybell’s lawyer has been aware of his client's dwindling resources for at least a year. The motion alleges that the decision to withdraw just months before jury selection “appears to be an attempt to delay the proceedings and part of a long-term strategy to delay and object to the State’s effects for justice for Tylee Ryan, J.J. Vallow, and Tammy Douglas Daybell.”
Given that Daybell’s team got a year to prepare for trial after Vallow’s conviction, prosecutors argue that Prior’s claims that he cannot be ready by April are another stall tactic.
“For the first time, this issue is being brought up that, Hey, I want to withdraw because I'm not getting paid and I'd have to work all the time to get it done,” Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake also noted during Thursday’s hearing.
Blake added that Daybell previously waived his right to have a capital-qualified attorney in this case and stuck with Prior. Prior responded by saying he feels like he has no choice but to withdraw, stating that “if Mr. Daybell is going to get the trial that he deserves, either I find someone to help me... or I have to make the difficult choice.” “I understand it's two months before trial, and it's not a decision I want to make,” he added.
Ultimately, Judge Steven W. Boyce sided with the prosecution. “At some point, the court has to consider the timing here,” Boyce said, adding that Daybell has affirmed that he will want Prior as his lawyer.
