Summary of tweets for Trial Day 2, 4/11/23 - State Witness:
Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo/part 4
Nate Eaton
@NateNewsNow
·
9h
NEW THREAD: Court was about to resume but John Thomas asked for some time to visit with Lori. Lori appeared visibly upset. Court is in recess again.
Lori has left the courtroom with her attorneys to have a discussion in a private hallway.
Jurors have not yet been brought back into the courtroom. Rob Wood is ready to continue questioning Det. Hermosillo. I've been told the evidence this afternoon will be graphic.
All the prosecutors and judge have left the courtroom and gone into the hallway where Lori was with her attorneys.
Boyce said the afternoon session would begin at 12:45 p.m. Everyone was ready to go when John Thomas asked if he, Archibald and Lori could meet in private following lunch.
We have just been told the court is taking a 30 minute recess.
Prosceutors and defense attorneys came into the courtroom. Lori never returned. Prosecutor Rachel Smith grabbed some documents and all of the attorneys went back into the hallway area where they had originally met. Hearing will resume at 1:35 p.m.
Personal observation: Lori Daybell appeared upset this afternoon. I've seen her in multiple court hearings, in Hawaii, face-to-face at the Rexburg Airport -- I've never seen upset/sad before today.
Prosecutors are back in the courtroom. Also - its Rob Wood's birthday today.
Defense attorneys and Lori have not entered the courtroom.
John Thomas opens the door to the hallway from where he, Archibald and Lori have been. He motions for prosecutors to come back there.
I think I'm safe to assume that everyone in the courtroom is wondering what is going on. It has been 30 minutes and no updates. Jurors remain outside of the courtroom. They were never brought back in from their lunch break.
Before lunch, we saw images of where JJ and Tylee were found. Det. Hermosillo was going to continue his testimony this afternoon and we were warned the evidence would be graphic.
Lori has some idea of what would be shown and discussed this afternoon. It's possible her attorneys have shown her the images before today.
All attorneys have re-entered the courtroom but Lori is not here.
Jim Archibald and John Thomas are looking at some papers while the prosecutors remain seated at their table. Judge Boyce is not in the courtroom.
Larry Woodcock is in the courtroom and Kay Woodcock has joined him. She was not here this morning. Other family members are also in the courtroom.
Lori has entered the courtroom. Her face is red and she appears to have been crying. The deputy is locking her leg shackles into the ground. She sits down and is looking down.
Lori's mood is visibly different. This morning she was chatting with her attorneys, smiling, laughing. This afternoon she is silent and appears upset.
Boyce is on the bench and says a legal issue has arisen that needs to be taken up outside of the presence of the jury. Archibald will now argue that issue.
Archibald says Lori wishes to waive her right to not be present for the remainder fo the afternoon. He says it was emotional this morning and Lori has fragile mental health.y.
Lindsey Blake argues it's important to have the defendant present and the state of Idaho deserves to have her here. "This isn't the first time the defendant has been uncooperative with this court."
Blake says if Lori is allowed to leave, the state would be allowed to comment to the jury during closing arguments that she was not present during this portion of the trial.
Boyce cites Idaho Criminal Rule 43 and says presence is required at a defendant's trial in every stage of the trial but part of the law says a defendant can waive their right to to be present under certain circumstances.
Boyce says Idaho law allows some defendants to waive their right to be present during part of their trial but there is a process if someone wants to be voluntarily absent. Boyce discussing what authority the court has to allow someone to miss part of the trial.
Boyce says the court has authority to override the request of defendant to voluntarily excuse herself from certain portions of the trial where she has been here for the first day and a half of the trial.
Boyce says her presence can and should be required so the judge denies the request and orders that Lori cannot leave.
Lori has no reaction to the judge's decision.
Jury is brought in. Everyone is asked to stand. Lori stands and John Thomas holds on to her arm.
Det. Hermosillo is back on the stand.
Wood asks to admit an exhibit showing a document Hermosillo put together that shows the photos and names of key figures in the case. Chad, Lori, Aelx, Tylee, JJ, Chad, Tammy, Melani P.
Wood asks to admit two more exhibits Hermosillo created. One shows key dates pre-investigation - date of Charles' death, date of Brandon's shooting, dates of Tammy's shooting and date of her death. The second document is key dates during the investigation.
Wood asks to admit more photographs showing the pet cemetery and the burial site where Tylee was located. Hermosillo says he saw this spot with his own eyes on June 9 and 10, 2020.
***GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS***
The first image shows pet cemetery surrounded by pink tape. Police knew it was the pet cemetery because of the black dog statue outside of the cemetery. The fire pit is also in the photo and blue tarps where any evidence was placed that had been dug out of the ground.
Second image shows a piece of charred bone sticking up through the dirt and moist soil from "rotting flesh." The third image is flesh and bone found in the ground placed on a blue tarp. "This is just a portion of some of the flesh and charred broken bone we had uncovered"
Next image is burnt flesh, fatty tissue, organs that were not completely burned that were found in the bucket in the ground. Under the bucket you can see the partial remains of a human skull.
Next image is a close-up of the partial skull that was underneath the green bucket. Lori is not looking at the screen. Hermosillo uses a laser pointer to show the top of the skull and the jaw bone. It took investigators hours to uncover all of this as the stench was so strong.
Next image shows teeth that were found in the area. Next image shows parts of Tylee that were found - bone, charred bone, rotting flesh, the orbital sockets, the top of the skull - "some of the parts we had to get out of the ground."
An autopsy was performed on the remains on June 11, 2020. Ball and Hermosillo were there and met with the medical examiner. They signed in, wore booties and protective clothing. The medical examiner put the bag on a metal table and cut the seal on the bag.
"I saw a little boy in red pajamas. He had a white plastic bag around his head, several layers of duct tape from his chin to his forehead area, his arms were duct taped with several layers of duct taped. His arms were folded across his chest.
His feet were also duct taped and bound. He had a white and blue child's blanket placed on top of him."
The medical examiner cut the plastic bag over JJ's head and duct tape was covering his mouth. Duct tape was also around JJ's wrists. Larry is bent over crying as Hermosillo describes the situation.
Hermosillo recognized the little boy as JJ Vallow. "His pajamas were soaked with body decomposition, he still had on his pull-up nighttime diaper, there was some visible bruising on his arms that the medical examiner had pointed out to us."
Larry Woodcock is sobbing.
Wood asks to admit autopsy photos as evidence.
Photo of JJ in his pjs with white plastic on his head wrapped in duct tape and taped arms is shown on the screen. Hermosillo describes the image.
Second image shows JJ's legs and feet wrapped in duct tape. He was wearing black Sketchers socks and red pajama pants. The whole bottom half of his red pajamas were soaked with body decomposition, Hermosillo says.
We now see an image of JJ's head that was wrapped in tape and covered in plastic. It is in various stages of decomposition. Larry Woodcock continues to sob. Lori is not looking at the screen.
Next image shows the plastic bag that was placed over JJ's head. It shows body decomposition from JJ's face inside the bag.
Next image is JJ's face. It is gray/black. Duct tape is still over his mouth. "It was very easy to identify that little boy on the tape as the one we had been looking for for the past eight months," Hermosillo says.
That set of photos is complete. Wood says he has no further questions for Hermosillo at this point but may need to call him again later. Boyce says we will have a 15 minute break "due to the evidence just published" and resume after.
During previous breaks, Lori has smiled and laughed with her attorneys. This break she is quiet, stoic, scowling, saying nothing.
While we are on a break, here is a sketch of Det. Ray Hermosillo from today.
Boyce is back on the bench. John Thomas will now cross-examine Det. Hermosillo. Thomas begins by asking how Hermosillo is doing and says, "It's been a tough day." Hermosillo responds, "It has been a tough day."
Thomas asking Hermosillo some timeline questions - when he was contacted by Fremont County Sheriff's Office and Gilbert Police. He asks Hermosillo about the "intermittent" surveillance police were conducting.
The detective says it was probably 15 hours of surveillance on and off over two weeks in Nov. 2019.
Hermosillo says they parked in front of Lori's house on and off and tried to gather information for Gilbert police. The surveillance was done in front of Lori's house - not Chad's. Hermosillo says they saw Chad and Lori at her apartment on Nov. 1.
He doesn't recall seeing them again at the unit.
Hermosillo says the first time they heard about JJ was on Nov. 18 when Gilbert police came to seize the infotainment system in the Jeep. The infotainment center is the middle portion of the vehicle where you program your maps, listen to radio, etc.
Thomas asking for clarification on some of Hermosillo's answers from earlier today. Asks why he got a warrant after the first visit to Lori's apartment. Hermosillo says it was based on fact that Lori said JJ was with Melanie Gibb but he was not.
Thomas going over the evidence that was found in Lori's garage - guns, weapons, etc. Thomas asks Hermosillo if during the investigation he ever thought Lori owned those items. Hermosillo says, "No, sir."
Hermosillo says hundreds of tips came in after Sept. 8 - the last time Tylee was seen alive - and police followed up on every tip.
Thomas asking Hermosillo if he knows where Lori was on Oct. 19 - the day Tammy Daybell died. Hermosillo says she was in Hawaii.
Hermosillo says police planned for "weeks" to execute the warrant on June 9, 2020 - the day the bodies were found. Hermosillo says he, Lt. Ball and two other detectives showed up that morning before the rest of the law enforcement agencies showed up.
Everyone else staged at a church about two miles away.
Thomas asks if this was the first time he was at the scene of a crime where the FBI was in charge. "I've worked with the FBI, Homeland Security, we've served search warrants with them," he responds, but says he has not worked with them on something of this magnitude.
Hermosillo says Boise City Police were set up along the highway in eastern Idaho the day of the warrant "in case somebody needed to be followed."
Thomas asking Hermosillo to describe how big the firepit area was in Chad's backyard that was surrounded by pink tape.
Lori has been looking down this entire afternoon. From my vantage point, it appears her head is bowed and I can't even see her face.
Thomas asking Archibald if they used a straight-edged shovel or another type of shovel when they began digging in the yard. Hermosillo can't recall.
Boyce reminds Thomas that it's 3:30 p.m. so court is adjourned for the day. Hermosillo will be back on the stand in the morning for more cross-examination.
A sketch of Larry Woodcock from court today.
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