Chad Daybell trial: witness testimony ends, closing arguments begin Wednesday
May 28, 2024, 8:25 AM | Updated: Jun 5, 2024, 4:39 pm
John Prior speaks with Chad Daybell during a hearing in August 2020. An FBI agent testified Monday about phone data from the days when two children were believed to have been killed. Other relatives testified about his demeanor at his wife's funeral. (John Roark)
(John Roark)
BOISE, Idaho — Prosecutors in the trial of Chad Daybell finished calling rebuttal witnesses to the stand on Tuesday. Closing arguments will begin on Wednesday, according to KSL NewsRadio’s Adam Small, who was in the courtroom.
The defense rested late last week, and the prosecution began calling rebuttal witnesses the same day. If the state of Idaho finishes making its case on Tuesday, the closing arguments could happen as soon as Wednesday or Thursday.
Daybell stands accused of murder and conspiracy in the deaths of three people: Tammy Daybell, his late first wife, and J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan, two children of his second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell.
BREAKING: Closing arguments in the #ChadDaybelltrial are tomorrow morning. The prosecution has no more witnesses. Court is adjourned for the day.
— Adam Small (@AdamSmallKSL) May 28, 2024
What happens next in the trial of Chad Daybell?
The trial of Chad Daybell does not end with the evidence phase. If the jury votes to convict Daybell, the trial moves into its penalty phase. The same jury that heard the trial would come back in, this time to decide whether Daybell’s charges merit the death penalty or life in prison.
But, the penalty phase does not need to take place right away. Skordas expects the judge to give both the prosecution and defense a matter of weeks to prepare for the penalty phase.
“We didn’t have to ask the question on Lori Vallow’s trial whether or not the jurors felt that they could convict and impose the death penalty,” Skordas said at the beginning of the trial. “In Chad’s case, the jury has to say, ‘Yes, I will support the law… I will follow the law and if the evidence is there, I will vote for his death.'”
All of the proceedings in the Chad Daybell trial are available streaming from KSL NewsRadio and KSL TV. You can follow along on our YouTube channel, here.
