The judge presiding over the Lori Vallow Daybell case considered a motion to ban cameras in the courtroom during the trial on Tuesday.
Both prosecutors and Daybell’s attorneys support the proposed ban of cameras in the courtroom during the trial, which begins in January, according to East Idaho News.
Lori Vallow, 49, as well as her then-husband, 54, are being accused of killing Vallow’s two children, as well as collecting social security benefits that were in the children’s names after their deaths.
Vallow, the so-called “cult mom” and her husband were both indicted in May 2021 on charges of grand theft by deception, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder that is related to the deaths of her children, Tylee Ryan, 17, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, as well as Tammy Daybell, who is Daybell’s ex-wife.
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Prosecutors claim that the couple was involved in an apocalyptic religious belief that allegedly justified the murders.
Her children were missing for a period of several months and police said that the couple lied about where the children were and then went to Hawaii. The children’s bodies were then found underground on Daybell’s property in Idaho.
According to the report, Vallow’s attorney, Jim Archibald, argued that having cameras in the courtroom would require her to “prove her innocence instead of the state having to prove her guilty.”
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While the prosecution and defense both said that they believe in freedom of the press, they said that it “don’t believe it includes broadcast.”
“We let the media police themselves, and what did they do? They put microphones on our tables and cameras right in front of our faces,” Archibald said.
According to the report, the defense and prosecution both said that “incessant media exposure” could hinder Vallow from having a fair trial.
Several news outlets filed a motion opposing the motion.
The attorney for the news organizations said that news outlets have followed court orders in previous hearings.
“It is regrettable that counsel feels misled that they didn’t notice the microphones, but they were approved first and foremost, along with the cameras,” Wright said. “There is a significant difference in telling this court that this courtroom should be open, but only to people who physically want to come and sit in the courtroom, because if it’s broadcast to other people, her rights are now jeopardized.”
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
