Lori Vallow Battles the Bench: Motions Denied and Tensions High as Trial Nears
Lori Vallow doesn’t want to wear the RACC belt. That was the first real moment of tension in court today. She told the judge flat out—if there’s an armed guard in the courtroom, why does she need to wear a restraint device under her clothes? The judge didn’t budge. He said the belt stays. It’s not visible to the jury, it’s not negotiable, and it’s part of his order. End of discussion.
And that set the tone for the rest of the hearing.
Lori spent the afternoon pushing hard to get her case thrown out. She claimed prosecutorial misconduct, violations of her rights, missing records, and withheld evidence. One after another, her motions came in hot, and one after another, the judge shut them down.
She argued the state intercepted her private messages with her Idaho appellate attorney—conversations she believed were protected by attorney-client privilege. The judge disagreed. He said there was no actual legal advice in the messages, just surface-level stuff like “trying to set up a legal line.” And when Lori pushed back, saying there was confidential information, the judge made it clear: the breach, if any, came from her side. According to him, her appellate attorney used the communication system incorrectly, which is how the messages ended up in the hands of the state.
Lori cut in, frustrated. “How was he using it incorrectly?” she asked. The judge, clearly over it, said he’d already explained it five different ways. He wasn’t going to do it again.
She wasn’t done. Lori also said the prosecutor should’ve never read the messages once they had them. The judge repeated that the messages weren’t privileged in the first place—and even if they were, no confidential content was shared.
Then came her next line of attack: She claimed the state failed to give her team necessary documents and interfered with her defense. The judge asked the obvious question: Why wasn’t this raised months ago? She said it was. But again, there was no new evidence, and the motion was denied.
Another big point of contention? Lori said the police department ignored her public records request. The judge responded with a little judicial shrug—there’s a process for that, but he’s not about to give her a step-by-step guide. She asked him directly, “What is that?” He replied, “I’m not going to give you legal advice.” That one landed with a bit of silence.
But perhaps the strangest twist came when Lori accused the prosecutor’s office of misconduct again—this time because a member of the prosecution team, Treena Kay, allegedly gave legal advice to someone on the witness list. Lori claimed Treena told that person—me, actually—that they couldn’t be in the courtroom. Treena responded, saying that wasn’t legal advice, just a procedural heads-up: if someone’s on the witness list, they’re not allowed in the courtroom until after they testify. Standard stuff.
Lori argued that either Treena or I should be forced to testify about that conversation. But the judge reminded her—I’m no longer a witness. So, if she wants to know what I said, her investigator can just call and ask. Still, he wasn’t about to reopen the door for testimony on a conversation that didn’t violate any rule. Another denial.
Courtroom logistics came up too—specifically, seating assignments. The first row on each side is reserved for immediate family and relatives, while the very last rows are saved for media. Everyone else? General public, first-come, first-served in the middle.
There was also a quick conversation about evidence handling. Lori wanted to talk about how media exhibits should be submitted. The judge kept it simple: one flash drive per exhibit. Easy.
And finally, the court is prepping for jury selection. Preliminary jury instructions have been handed out, and jurors are expected to start showing up tomorrow morning at 10:30. The judge didn’t go into details yet, but that discussion’s coming once selection begins.
So, that’s where things stand—Lori still fighting, still frustrated, and the court methodically moving forward despite it all.
#LoriVallow #CourtroomInsider #TrueCrime #JusticeInIdaho
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