This article was written by Eric Grossarth of East Idaho News.
Lori Vallow Daybell wants to be called Mrs. Lori Daybell and her attorney has gone so far as to file documents stating how she should be addressed in court proceedings.
Hours before a scheduled hearing Monday afternoon, defense attorney Mark Means filed a motion explaining his client married Chad Daybell on Nov. 5, 2019 in Hawaii and “under the conflicts of laws and ‘Full Faith and Credit Clause’ of the United States Constitution, states must recognize common-law marriages when such marriage is valid in a sister state.”
“Defendant (sic) true full name as of this date (which precedes any legal action in the State of Idaho) is Lori Norene Ryan Vallow Daybell, or Mrs. Daybell,” Means wrote. “All State interest or argument to oppose this motion is subservient to the US Constitution application in this matter.”
Means attached the Daybell’s marriage certificate, a document that had not been released publicly, to his motion. They were married at Anni Beach Park, just minutes from their rented condo in Princeville, Hawaii.
The Daybell marriage was not discussed during Monday’s Zoom hearing – and not much else was. Means appeared with John Prior, Chad’s attorney, and special prosecutor Rob Wood in front of Judge Steven Boyce. The group immediately went into a closed break-out meeting and 45 minutes later, they appeared again with Boyce announcing the discussion had been recorded but was sealed to the public.
Wood was expected to ask Boyce to exclude a survey commissioned by the defense attorneys regarding jury bias that would be brought up during a change of venue hearing scheduled for March 22.
Boyce said that hearing as well as Monday’s would no longer be held. A status conference is now set for April 7 to discuss where the case stands at that point.
The Daybells have pleaded not guilty to felonies related to the alterations, destruction and concealment of the bodies of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, two of Lori’s children. Investigators found the remains buried in the backyard of Chad’s Salem home in June 2020.
