PHOENIX — >>Editor's note: The above video is from a previously aired broadcast.
Lori Vallow will not face the death penalty as possible sentencing in her trial, Judge Steven Boyce said in a court hearing Tuesday morning.
The Valley mother, facing charges for the deaths of her three children and former spouse, is still set to stand trial on April 3. However, the court recently granted a motion by Vallow's attorneys to take the death penalty off the table.
This motion does not apply to Chad Daybell and he could still face the death penalty if convicted.
The motion was filed on March 13 a few months after Vallow was found fit to stand trial. It claimed multiple reasons why the death penalty shouldn't be considered in her case.
The motion cited media saturation, multiple discovery violations by the government, an argument that the defendant's mental status should preclude the death penalty, and an argument regarding the inability of the state to carry out a death sentence should they impose it, Judge Boyce said.
Judge Boyce noted that multiple discovery disclosures such as DNA evidence and recorded statements came late in the trial, giving the defense inadequate time to prepare for those disclosures.
Courts found that several discoveries were disclosed past a Feb. 27 deadline, and were "inexcusably late" due to a mistake in scheduling.
Roughly 100 hours of jail calls between Vallow and Daybell weren't presented until after the court-set deadline.
Idaho is also currently struggling to supply drugs used for lethal injection, raising concerns about the state's ability to carry out a death sentence.
While Daybell has waived his right to a speedy trial, giving the court more time to handle his evidence, Vallow has not.
The court decided that the culminating factors were significant enough that they will not be seeking the death penalty.
Judge Boyce emphasized that the ruling only impacts Vallow's case because Chad Daybell's defense has additional time to review the newly presented evidence.
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