Attorneys for Jeremy Best, accused of murdering his pregnant wife, son and unborn child, have filed motions to remove an out-of-state attorney and to move Best out of the Bonneville
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Best's defense files motion to dismiss Missouri attorney, move Best out of Bonneville County
Attorneys for Jeremy Best, accused of murdering his pregnant wife, son and unborn child, have filed motions to remove an out-of-state attorney and to move Best out of the Bonneville County Jail.
Best was charged in the 2023 deaths of Kali Jean Randall, their son Zeke Best and their unborn child. A grand jury indicted Best on three felony first-degree murder charges, which included an enhancement charge for each count.
The potential punishment for first-degree murder is a minimum of 10 years or up to life. On Feb. 28, the state filed a notice it will seek the death penalty, which is an option for first-degree murder. The enhancement charges also add 15 years to each count.
The first motion filed by James Archibald, representing Best, was filed on Dec. 20, in which he asked the court to remove attorney Rachel Smith. Archibald alleges Smith’s involvement in this case violates state and constitutional law due to her being hired by the Teton County Board of Commissioners. Smith has had prior experience in the courtrooms of Idaho, where she was involved in the Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell cases. She left the Daybell case on Feb. 28.
Archibald states in his motion that Smith, being a resident of Missouri, isn’t proscribed by Idaho law and that accountability to these laws must be followed, considering the death penalty. He also argues that attorneys must be financially disinterested in taking on cases, and Smith is being paid $150 per hour to work on this case.
Archibald also argues that in Smith’s prior cases, where she was involved as a special prosecutor, “serious discovery and Brady issues were present in all.” According to Cornell Law School, Brady materials are pieces of evidence that the prosecutor withholds that may benefit the defense.
Archibald writes in his motion that Best does not merit the death penalty due to the circumstances surrounding the incident. Since Jan. 30, 2024, Best’s defense has attempted to dismiss the case or remove the death penalty as they argue that Best had a mental breakdown, which negates the claim of malice aforethought, a requirement for a first-degree murder charge.
In the motion, Archibald claims that Best could not remember his name, date, where he lived or how he ended up there and that he was undergoing a mental health episode.
“Upon being arrested, he was again sent to the hospital, where he continued to exhibit nonsensical and delusional behavior. Since his arrest, jail staff have kept Mr. Best on numerous powerful antipsychotic drugs at any given time, oftentimes upwards of 5 medications at once, for treatment of his serious mental illness,” the motion states.
Best’s defense states that the death penalty is merited for the worst of the worst, but mental illness must be taken into account, as Best was not able to behave rationally or control his behavior.
In Archibald’s second motion, filed on Dec. 30, he is asking for the court to move Best from the Bonneville County Jail to “any other jail within the Seventh Judicial District, including Madison County.”
Archibald argues in this motion there have been ongoing constitutional violations which include blocks to expert examinations and testing to prepare for his death penalty case and delays, misleading and incomplete discovery.
This is the second time Best’s attorneys have filed to move Best out of the Bonneville County Jail. The Madison County Jail has been listed as the preferred jail to house Best in both motions as it would be “the least onerous to safeguard against continuing and future violations.”
According to the motion, in the first filing on May 28, it was alleged that there were issues at the jail that affected Best’s attorney’s ability to speak with one another without the public being able to hear.
It states that the room where Best and his attorney could talk to each other has a metal door that does not muffle the conversation, and a bench outside allows members of the public to listen in easily.
In the new motion, Archibald states that they were advised to work with the jail to rectify this issue and the administrative judge for the Seventh Judicial District went to the jail to rectify the issue as well. He states that the problems have not been resolved.
Archibald cites another issue in his motion as a conversation about Best between criminal investigator Christopher Terry, who works for the Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office, and Mike Huston, who is part of the jail’s detention team. In an email to Terry, Huston asked him if he’d be able to pick up evidence on a weekly basis, to which Terry responded that “we really want to convict this guy and not give him any type of defense.”
Later in the motion, Archibald argues that the jail has been favoring the Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney’s office over their request for evidence, saying the jail has been receiving instructions from the prosecutor’s office, while Best’s defense team has had difficulty getting complete records.
“Were Mr. Best confined in Madison County, evidence regarding his confinement would not be provided to the Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney,” the motion states. “Moreover, an investigator with the Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney would likely not communicate a collective goal of ensuring that Mr. Best be denied his ability to prepare a defense.”
Archibald states that the defense had received an incomplete record of the jail’s observation of Best but that the full record was later turned over.
“While the jail has delayed and been largely unresponsive to the defense team’s requests for records — or, even worse, been selectively responsive in ways that are highly misleading and without indicating that the provided records are incomplete—the jail has promptly provided the State with records, turning them over on a weekly basis,” the motion states.
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