FILE - In this March 6, 2020, file photo, Lori Vallow Daybell glances at the camera during her hearing, with her defense attorney, Edwina Elcox, right, in Rexburg, Idaho. Attorneys for Vallow Daybell asked an Idaho judge on Tuesday to separate two conspiracy counts against her. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, Pool, File)
FREMONT COUNTY — The state of Idaho has committed Lori Vallow Daybell to a mental health facility after the court found her unfit to stand trial.
A court order filed Wednesday and signed by Fremont County District Judge Steven Boyce said Daybell would be committed to the custody of the director of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
“The court finds that the defendant does lack the capacity to make informed decisions about treatment, and the court finds the defendant is not dangerously mentally ill as defined in IC 66-1305.”
Under Idaho law, Daybell will be held in a mental health facility for up to 90 days and undergo treatment in an attempt to restore her competency in order for her to stand trial. If after those 90 days her competency is restored, she will be back in the courtroom.
But if she isn’t found competent, her stay and treatment at the facility will continue another 180 days.
Daybell’s incompetence to stand trial was made known at her indictment hearing where she was charged, among other crimes, for the first-degree murders of her two children, JJ Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16.
Daybell’s hearing was late to start at the time. Fremont County Judge Faren Eddins said when the hearing began the court was delayed after a sidebar with the lawyers involved. It was then revealed the court had found Lori Vallow unfit to stand trial.
Former prosecutor and current defense attorney Greg Skordas joined Dave Noriega and Debbie Dujanovic earlier to discuss what a development like this means for the case stacked against Lori. He said this doesn’t mean the case is closed.
“The judge has ordered that she be hospitalized,” Skordas said. “It’ll be like a prison hospital or a state hospital. They will decide sometime down the road whether her competency can and will be restored. In other words, this isn’t the end of the story. If she’s ultimately restored competent, they will still proceed with a trial on her.”
Read or listen to the full conversation Dave and Dujanovic had with Greg Skordas below.