MOSCOW, IDAHO — Tarot card reader Ashley Guillard filed a notice of appeal on April 6 to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging a $10 million federal jury defamation judgment against her in Idaho. Guillard, a Houston, Texas, resident who describes herself as a psychic crime solver, had previously asked the federal court in Idaho to set aside the verdict in a legal filing she prepared herself, calling the case against her fraudulent.

The appeal stems from a lawsuit filed on Dec. 21, 2022, by University of Idaho history professor Rebecca Scofield, who accused Guillard of defamation. Among statements Guillard made that became part of the case, she said, "REBECCA WAS THE ONE TO INITIATE THE PLAN." In another statement, Guillard said, "Rebecca Scofield is going to prison for the murder of the 4 University of Idaho Students whether you like it or not." Scofield stated in the lawsuit, according to court filings, that she had never met any of the victims and alleged she feared that she and her family could be targeted with physical violence as a result of Guillard's videos.

The lawsuit was filed days before authorities arrested Bryan Kohberger in late December 2022 in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, murders of four University of Idaho students — Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Kaylee Goncalves — at a home in Moscow, Idaho. No one else was ever charged in connection with the killings. Kohberger, who had been studying criminal justice at Washington State University less than 10 miles from Moscow, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the four murders and received a sentence of life imprisonment. Investigators did not determine a motive for the killings, and the reason two roommates in the home were not harmed remains unknown.

After a three-day trial in February before U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco, a federal jury found that Guillard owed Scofield damages for false accusations. The jury ordered Guillard to pay $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $7.5 million in punitive damages, totaling $10 million. In March, attorneys for Scofield moved for Guillard to pay more than $165,000 in attorney fees, according to court filings.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handles federal cases from Idaho. No date has been set for the appeal proceedings.