Motion to dismiss Daybell, Vallow Daybell prosecutor continues Friday

ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) — The hearing to kick prosecutor Rob Wood off the Lori Vallow-Daybell and Chad Daybell cases will continue.

It lasted most of Wednesday and will continue Friday afternoon.

At the center of this hearing is a recording that reveals the prosecution’s efforts to seek murder charges against Lori Vallow-Daybell and Chad Daybell.

The recording is a piece of evidence presented by the defense team to support their claims that Wood worked to coerce or intimidate witnesses in the case.

The defense says it is an unethical attempt to communicate with Lori without counsel.

In the recording, you can hear Wood talking to Summer Shiftlet, Lori’s sister, about Lori’s attorney Mark Means.

“We were able to put them in jail on high bail on these lower charges and put together a case,” Wood said. “Our goal is to have such a strong case that when she has competent counsel. I don’t know if you know, her attorneys have never handled a felony case before. He’s never, never, done any meaningful criminal work at all. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s a nice guy, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing and once we file further charges she will be appointed counsel who know what they are doing and our goal is to put together such a case that they are smart enough to say, ‘It’s going to be better to talk.’”

The defense team is calling Wood’s actions “absolutely taboo.”

Legal experts who testified Wednesday say they also take issue with Wood’s practices throughout the recording — calling it “clear coaching.”

Wood denies these accusations.

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