ERIC RICHINS: Utah vs. Kouri Richins - Murder via fentanyl poisoning

Utah mom accused of killing husband with fentanyl in drink tried to poison him multiple times before, family says

Despite the suspicions, Eric Richins stayed in the marriage with Kouri Richins because of his children, his family's spokesperson said.

www.nbcnews.com

May 10, 2023, 6:16 PM EDT / Updated May 11, 2023, 9:18 AM EDT
By Minyvonne Burke, Antonio Planas and Andrew Blankstein

A Utah man who died after his wife allegedly spiked his drink with fentanyl — and then wrote a children's book about grief — had suspected she tried to poison him multiple times and said “she was to blame” if anything happened to him, according to court records.

Despite the suspicions, a family spokesperson told NBC News on Wednesday that Eric Richins stayed in the marriage with Kouri Richins because of his children.


Eric Richins, 39, died March 4, 2022, at his home in Kamas, about 40 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, after he was found unresponsive in his bedroom. Kouri Richins, 33, was arrested Monday on charges of aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

An attorney for Kouri Richins, Skye Lazaro, declined to comment Wednesday.

According to affidavits for search warrants obtained Wednesday from the Summit County Sheriff's Office, relatives of Eric Richins told investigators to look into his wife's involvement.

"They advised he warned them that if anything happened to him she was to blame," the records said. Eric Richins, according to the records, suspected his wife had tried to poison him on multiple occasions.

"According to a sister, Eric and his wife went to Greece a few years ago and after his wife gave him a drink he became violently ill and called his sister saying he believed his wife had tried to kill him," the records said.

"On Valentine’s Day of 2022, his wife brought him a sandwich, which after one bite Eric broke into hives and couldn’t breathe. He used his son’s epi-pen as well as Benadryl before passing out for several hours," according to the records.

He was looking into a divorce and had changed his power of attorney, his will and the beneficiary of his life insurance policy from his wife to his sister, the records said.

Two family members said Eric Richins told them he was worried “Kouri would kill him for money and he wanted to make sure the kids were taken care of financially,” the records said.

<snip>

The medical examiner said that he had five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in his system and that it was "illicit" fentanyl, not medical-grade. It is also believed he ingested the drugs orally, according to the statement.

It appears she never performed CPR on him as she claimed, the search warrant records said, because of the large amount of blood that came from his mouth.

His family said that Eric Richins never told his wife he had “cut her out of the will” and that the couple were also arguing over buying a $2 million home that she wanted to flip, according to the records.

The family said he was planning to tell her he wasn’t going to sign the papers, but the day after his death, she signed the closing papers on the home, the records said.

After she closed on the home, she invited her friends over for a large party at her home where she was drinking and celebrating, an affidavit for a search warrant said.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Court to decide if Kouri Richins goes to trial a year after her arrest

Kouri Richins' preliminary hearing is Wednesday, May 15, a year and one week after her murder arrest.

www.kpcw.org

KPCW | By Connor Thomas
Published May 9, 2024 at 7:23 AM MDT

Kouri Richins' preliminary hearing is Wednesday, May 15, a year and one week after her murder arrest.​

The Kamas mother of three was arrested May 8, 2023, for allegedly killing her husband Eric Richins.

Now, she’s set to appear in Summit County’s Third District Court for a hearing that will determine if the case goes to trial.

<snip>

Kouri faces new charges since she last appeared in court, including more severe drug charges, new financial charges and a count of attempted homicide for an alleged previous attempt to kill Eric.

Prosecutors have alleged infidelity on her part to support additional motive, but Kouri’s family claims Eric did the same. Both husband and wife consulted divorce attorneys.

And prosecutors have spent time in court trying to get some of those records. Monday, May 13, they’ll try to compel a Heber law practice to hand over records about Kouri’s divorce consultation.

Previously, they compelled the defense team to turn over a letter another inmate wrote to Kouri, one of a number of documents found during a search of her cell last fall.

One of those documents, a letter Kouri wrote to her mother that became known for its opening words—“Walk the Dog!!”—gave an alternative theory of the case, where Eric purchases laced drugs in Mexico. Prosecutors called it witness tampering.

The defense team won’t make its theory in the case public at least until Wednesday.

If Mrazik rules prosecutors have enough evidence to put Kouri on trial, she can enter a plea: guilty, not guilty or no contest.

One key difference between a “guilty" and a “no contest” plea is a “no contest” plea can’t be held against someone in subsequent civil cases. And Kouri faces numerous civil lawsuits from Eric’s family, alleging she stole money and illegally tried to profit from his death.

The preliminary hearing begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 15.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Somewhere this week I heard someone say, it may have been Linda, or Nate, not sure but more likely Linda or someone (haven't watched much else) that if Lori Vallow and Letecia Stauch had a sister that was a bit like each of them and in the middle (I am paraphrasing) it would be Kouri Richins.

She's very bad news. Imo.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Kouri Richins' attorney asks the court to take Summit County prosecutors off her case

Kouri Richins' attorney said prosecutors have been listening to privileged calls and restricting Richins' ability to communicate with her attorneys.

www.ksl.com

By Emily Ashcraft, KSL.com | Posted - May 17, 2024 at 10:28 p.m.​

PARK CITY — Attorneys for Kouri Richins, the woman accused of fatally poisoning her husband and then writing a book about loss, asked the court to Friday to disqualify the team of prosecutors from continuing to work on the case.

Richins' attorneys allege Summit County chief prosecutor Brad Bloodworth has been improperly using communications between Richins and her attorneys — which the attorneys say should be considered private under client-attorney privilege — while preparing the case against Richins. They ask in a motion to the court for all prosecutors to be dismissed but "specifically" Bloodworth.

The request comes just two days after a Wednesday preliminary hearing was delayed when attorney Skye Lazaro announced her intentions to object to all 18 exhibits brought by prosecutors. A preliminary hearing is a meeting in court in which prosecutors present evidence to convince a judge that the person facing criminal charges should be brought to trial. The judge then rules on moving the case to trial or dismissing the charges, according to state code.

<snip>

At Wednesday's hearing, Bloodworth said he was not prepared to argue about whether the exhibits his team had prepared were admissible. He said prosecutors had no advance warning to the defense's opposition to the evidence. District Court Judge Richard Mrazik said he would try to reschedule the hearing as quickly as possible because Richins remains incarcerated. The new preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 18-20.

Request to remove chief prosecutor from case​

Lazaro in a court filing on Friday alleges that prosecutors had recordings of privileged calls and restricted Richins' ability to communicate with her attorney, hindering her right to effective counsel. Lazaro said her team discovered the jail had been recording phone calls with one of Richins' attorneys, J. Ramzi Hamady and brought that up with prosecutors on Dec. 11, 2023.

"Did you know this has been happening? Ramzi is clearly an attorney of record in the criminal case and the (Division of Child and Family Services) case so I am concerned," the email said.

Bloodworth said the attorney had not registered for or used an app that prevents calls from attorneys to clients from being recorded, so those calls were recorded just like other calls, Lazaro noted in the motion, saying that Bloodworth admitted to listening to "at least a portion of the calls" since May 2023.

In an email attached to Lazaro's motion on Friday, Bloodworth said the attorney "deliberately refused" to use the app.

"Ramzi knows that in refusing to use the app, the state maintains recordings of their calls. Accordingly, it seems that Ramzi consented to the state maintaining the recordings. Moreover, the state has transparently been providing these recordings in discovery for nearly six months," his email said.

Lazaro said Richins and her attorneys believed the calls were privileged, and it is "universally understood and accepted" that regardless of whether the app is downloaded, their calls with clients are still confidential.

'Walk The Dog' letter​

The same Summit County sheriff's officer who searched Richins' cell and found a letter (known in the case as the "Walk The Dog" letter because of words scrawled across the top of the page), went through multiple other documents during a visit between Richins and her attorneys on March 26, Lazaro's request to the court on Friday says.

Lazaro said the pages were clearly marked, and Richins notified the sheriff's officer that he could not take the notebook or read the pages but could only flip through to make sure nothing was stuck in the pages.

"(The officer) spent several minutes looking at every page of the notebook, during which defense counsel repeatedly told him he could not read the pages and was violating her client's constitutional rights," the motion said.

Lazaro said the officer left and returned with his captain and Bloodworth, and then she was "intensely interrogated" about the notebook's contents. She said Bloodworth asked the officer "if he was sure to look at every page" to see if it was legal material.

Lazaro contends that Bloodworth, the officer and his captain were violating Richins' constitutional right to effective counsel. They said that unless it was a legal document, Richins could not give it to her attorney, according to Lazaro.

She said removing Bloodworth from the case "is necessary to rectify the violation ... and to preserve the integrity of the judicial process."

Lazaro, in a second motion, asked the court to suppress the "WTD (walk the dog) Letter," saying it was improperly seized. She argued, as she has previously in the case, that it should not have been filed publicly with the court. Prosecutors originally said the letter asks Richins' mother and brother to give false testimony at her trial.

Lazaro said the court has ruled that it was attorney-client communication, and she asks for it to be removed from the court documents. She said it is a fictional manuscript, and that prosecutors have since agreed.

The document was originally filed with a motion asking the court to prohibit Richins from contacting her family, which was denied by Mrazik on Nov. 3.

Prosecutors have not yet responded to either of the motions filed on Friday.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Kouri Richins' attorney asks the court to take Summit County prosecutors off her case

Kouri Richins' attorney said prosecutors have been listening to privileged calls and restricting Richins' ability to communicate with her attorneys.

www.ksl.com

By Emily Ashcraft, KSL.com | Posted - May 17, 2024 at 10:28 p.m.​

PARK CITY — Attorneys for Kouri Richins, the woman accused of fatally poisoning her husband and then writing a book about loss, asked the court to Friday to disqualify the team of prosecutors from continuing to work on the case.

Richins' attorneys allege Summit County chief prosecutor Brad Bloodworth has been improperly using communications between Richins and her attorneys — which the attorneys say should be considered private under client-attorney privilege — while preparing the case against Richins. They ask in a motion to the court for all prosecutors to be dismissed but "specifically" Bloodworth.

The request comes just two days after a Wednesday preliminary hearing was delayed when attorney Skye Lazaro announced her intentions to object to all 18 exhibits brought by prosecutors. A preliminary hearing is a meeting in court in which prosecutors present evidence to convince a judge that the person facing criminal charges should be brought to trial. The judge then rules on moving the case to trial or dismissing the charges, according to state code.

<snip>

At Wednesday's hearing, Bloodworth said he was not prepared to argue about whether the exhibits his team had prepared were admissible. He said prosecutors had no advance warning to the defense's opposition to the evidence. District Court Judge Richard Mrazik said he would try to reschedule the hearing as quickly as possible because Richins remains incarcerated. The new preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 18-20.

Request to remove chief prosecutor from case​

Lazaro in a court filing on Friday alleges that prosecutors had recordings of privileged calls and restricted Richins' ability to communicate with her attorney, hindering her right to effective counsel. Lazaro said her team discovered the jail had been recording phone calls with one of Richins' attorneys, J. Ramzi Hamady and brought that up with prosecutors on Dec. 11, 2023.

"Did you know this has been happening? Ramzi is clearly an attorney of record in the criminal case and the (Division of Child and Family Services) case so I am concerned," the email said.

Bloodworth said the attorney had not registered for or used an app that prevents calls from attorneys to clients from being recorded, so those calls were recorded just like other calls, Lazaro noted in the motion, saying that Bloodworth admitted to listening to "at least a portion of the calls" since May 2023.

In an email attached to Lazaro's motion on Friday, Bloodworth said the attorney "deliberately refused" to use the app.

"Ramzi knows that in refusing to use the app, the state maintains recordings of their calls. Accordingly, it seems that Ramzi consented to the state maintaining the recordings. Moreover, the state has transparently been providing these recordings in discovery for nearly six months," his email said.

Lazaro said Richins and her attorneys believed the calls were privileged, and it is "universally understood and accepted" that regardless of whether the app is downloaded, their calls with clients are still confidential.

'Walk The Dog' letter​

The same Summit County sheriff's officer who searched Richins' cell and found a letter (known in the case as the "Walk The Dog" letter because of words scrawled across the top of the page), went through multiple other documents during a visit between Richins and her attorneys on March 26, Lazaro's request to the court on Friday says.

Lazaro said the pages were clearly marked, and Richins notified the sheriff's officer that he could not take the notebook or read the pages but could only flip through to make sure nothing was stuck in the pages.

"(The officer) spent several minutes looking at every page of the notebook, during which defense counsel repeatedly told him he could not read the pages and was violating her client's constitutional rights," the motion said.

Lazaro said the officer left and returned with his captain and Bloodworth, and then she was "intensely interrogated" about the notebook's contents. She said Bloodworth asked the officer "if he was sure to look at every page" to see if it was legal material.

Lazaro contends that Bloodworth, the officer and his captain were violating Richins' constitutional right to effective counsel. They said that unless it was a legal document, Richins could not give it to her attorney, according to Lazaro.

She said removing Bloodworth from the case "is necessary to rectify the violation ... and to preserve the integrity of the judicial process."

Lazaro, in a second motion, asked the court to suppress the "WTD (walk the dog) Letter," saying it was improperly seized. She argued, as she has previously in the case, that it should not have been filed publicly with the court. Prosecutors originally said the letter asks Richins' mother and brother to give false testimony at her trial.

Lazaro said the court has ruled that it was attorney-client communication, and she asks for it to be removed from the court documents. She said it is a fictional manuscript, and that prosecutors have since agreed.

The document was originally filed with a motion asking the court to prohibit Richins from contacting her family, which was denied by Mrazik on Nov. 3.

Prosecutors have not yet responded to either of the motions filed on Friday.

Give me an effing break. OMG, please God coiuld you put some sanity and fairness back into our legal system and world? Sending info to other people through your attorney or hiding it claiming they can't look through it because it is to the attorney. I COULD go on. Then an attorney who knows HOW to use an app where things would NOT be recorded and be privileged but does NOT.

Much like Delphi where they need/Ed something big to try to get rid of confessions, here too they NEED to get rid of the Walk the Dog letter, etc.

I gave her (Skye not Kouri) some credit and watched at the outset, etc. but Skye Lazarro should have dumped her client's AS* as she could have easily brought her down too and even tried to put sh*t on her/blame. Did she ever bring her her Crest White Strips?

Kouri Richins is disgusting. This is one case I have had no trouble at all forming an opinion after learning most of the known facts. And it would take a lot to change it.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Defense attorneys’ withdrawl delays Kouri Richins court case possibly until fall

Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik granted the motion filed by Salt Lake City-based law firm Ray Quinney & Nebeker during a closed hearing on Monday. Skye Lazaro had been leading the defense. She filed to withdraw on Friday, citing

www.parkrecord.com

Toria Barnhart​

May 21, 2024


Kouri Richins’ court proceedings could be delayed by a few months after a Summit County judge agreed to let her defense attorneys withdraw from her case.

Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik granted the motion filed by Salt Lake City-based law firm Ray Quinney & Nebeker during a closed hearing on Monday. Skye Lazaro had been leading the defense. She filed to withdraw on Friday, citing “an irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation.”

The court document states the conflict first arose in the civil cases in which the law firm represented Kouri, but it now extends to the criminal proceedings. The matter emerged after the hearing on May 15, after which Kouri and her attorneys met privately.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

More at link. ~Summer

 

[GrandmaBear]

Thank God. Not sure what happened but I could give some good guesses. I though her attorney pretty good at the onset UNTIL Kouri played sh*t on her and involved her in an excuse and I said it here pretty sure that any attorney she did that to should drop her like a hot potato. Skye did not. Apparently something now has happened that has made it clear she should do so.

Fame is not worth your own client putting you in the hot seat if it helps them. And that's my guess as to what happened.

Good for SKYE. I was losing respect for her and this gives it back.

There is probably more here than we know and I have no idea but I do know she kind of threw her attorney in and somewhat under the bus with one of her first fiascos, yet Skye stayed with her and tried to help get her out of it. I disagreed in that choice.

I can only guess similar but worse happened.

This is the kind of client no defense attorney in their right mind should want to represent. She will use ANYONE even her own as her it if necessary.

I don't know what happened but kudos to Skye for dropping her. She would have taken her done with her. I thought Skye should have prior to now but apparently she gave her a second chance and Kouri failed it.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Kouri Richins gets new defense after 'irreconcilable situation' with previous team

Kouri Richins, accused of murdering her husband with a fentanyl-laced drink in 2022, has a new defense team after her previous attorneys asked to be removed fro

kutv.com

by Matthew Jacobson & Wendy Halloran
Fri, May 24th 2024 at 2:45 PM
Updated Sat, May 25th 2024 at 10:19 PM

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Kouri Richins, accused of murdering her husband with a fentanyl-laced drink in 2022, has a new defense team after her previous attorneys asked to be removed from the case.

At a status hearing Friday, the changeover from Richins' former representation, Ray, Quinney & Nebeker, was made official as 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik granted a motion to withdraw and appointed new counsel after Richins was declared to be indigent, meaning she cannot afford to hire an attorney. Court records show Summit County will fund the indigent defense services by court-appointed attorneys Wendy Lewis and Kathy Nester.

Richins' case was handed over to the law firm Nester/Lewis, with attorney Wendy Lewis appearing via WebEx to accept the appointment.

Nester and Lewis both have extensive experience defending high-profile cases and both have served for years as federal public defenders.

 

[GrandmaBear]

So now they are making it about need public defenders and being indigent. That's NOT what withdrawal sounded like. Sounded like some huge issue as to reason to ask to withdraw so which is it.

I still say good for Skye, I judged her only that the woman did not do it sooner as her own client basically threw her under the bus OR was telling the truth and Skye was advising carrying stuff and helping with this b.s....

I don't think Kouri having two female attorneys is going to work out. HOWEVER I don't think having a male one would either. As far as indigency, well she should be one would assume. Only money was from loss of hub who she allegedly murdered or if mom or bro helping who she also kind of blamed and threw under the bus OR tried to she was telling them what to say as part of a BOOK.

With Skye, it just shows I HOPE that a case that might give you a lot of attention and boost career and make you known isn't worth your career or the client you are stuck with.

KUDOS for leaving her. There will be other cases and plenty of people giving you kudos for doing the RIGHT thing.

Jmo. And SOMETHING else HAPPENED here obviously as the first post a few days ago was not about indigency.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://wgntv.com/news/utah-mom-accused-of-poisoning-husband-proclaims-innocence-from-jail/

Utah mom accused of poisoning husband proclaims innocence from jail​

The Utah woman accused of poisoning her husband to death and then writing a children’s book about “dealing with grief” is speaking out from jail.

Kouri Richins, a mother of three, has proclaimed her innocence, saying she is determined to beat the charges against her and get back to her kids.

The 33-year-old has been in jail for more than a year now after being accused of killing her husband by giving him a lethal dose of fentanyl in their Utah home in March 2022.


The Utah mother told NBC’s “Dateline” that she is ready for a fight.

“I’m anxious,” she said. “I’m anxious to prove my innocence. I’m anxious to get to trial. And I’m ready to give this one hell of a fight.”

Kouri Richins said she hopes to prove she did not lace her husband’s Moscow mule with fentanyl.

“I’ve been silent for a year, locked away from my kids, my family, my life, living with the media telling the world who they think I am, what they think I’ve done or how they think I’ve lived. And it’s time to start speaking up. You took an innocent mom away from her babies,” Richins said.

She continued, “This means war.”

 

[GrandmaBear]

Dateline. Lol.

Kouri Richins will never shut up if she can find a platform.

And if she thinks anyone has forgotten how she was trying to tell her brother and mom what to do and say and implicate her former attorney on top of it, she's nuts. She can rewrite the "story" by Kouri and her defense can try too as so many are trying to do these days, but I haven't forgotten.... A jury may not hear it but they SHOULD, we shall see, but many of us know it.

It means "war" does it Kouri...

You've got a lot on your plate. Isn't there a lawsuit by his family and some other things... If you're indigent and now get public defenders and that is NOT why it sounds like Skye quit, they can't handle your civil case and you are indigent so you sure can't hire representation.

Get used to your cell. Spend some time decorating it. Pretend it is a property you will flip.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I am so glad Skye finally got smart and dumped her client.

This is news to me probably because many are on another case or two, but here is Linda.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

August hearing will determine if Kouri Richins stands trial for murder

Kamas mother of three, Kouri Richins, appeared in 3rd District Court Friday afternoon for a scheduling conference where a late August date was set for her preliminary hearing for murder and drug charges.

www.kpcw.org

KPCW | By Sydney Weaver
Published June 21, 2024 at 4:39 PM MDT

Judge Richard Mrazik reserved Aug. 26 to Aug. 28 for the preliminary hearing to determine whether Richins will stand trial on murder and drug charges.

She’s accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl back in March of 2022.

Richins was also in court yesterday [Thursday] to schedule her next appearance for a property dispute with her late husband’s sister, Katie Richins Benson.

She’ll be back in front of Judge Mrazik for the civil suit over the Richins’ family home Aug. 15.

 

[GrandmaBear]

is she representing self or is her mom paying for her atty in the civil stuff? or is she using murder funds, Ill gotten gains from murdering her hub? I don't believe she has a pot to pee in or shouldn't anyhow after stealing and ripping off.

 

[GrandmaBear]

This started playing automatically after something else I watched last night. Ended up watching and it is pretty good. Both families speak in it quite a bit. Mostly up to date but still had Skye as her attorney. Skye bailed on her, reasons not clear... Then there's a second portion called "Post Mortem" I have not listened to yet that seems to be no video, just discussion. I am listening to it as I post this.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

‘No evidence’ Kouri Richins’ prosecutors, jailers illegally monitored her attorney communications

A judge has refused to remove prosecutors from the murder case they brought against the Kamas mom.

www.kpcw.org

‘No evidence’ Kouri Richins’ prosecutors, jailers illegally monitored her attorney communications​

A judge has refused to remove prosecutors from the murder case they brought against the Kamas mom.

Kouri Richins’ public defenders agree with 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik: they don’t have evidence to show prosecutors or jailers violated attorney-client privilege rules.

Her previous defense team from the Salt Lake-based firm Ray, Quinney & Nebeker moved to disqualify the Summit County Attorney’s Office on the same day it left the case in May.

In court papers, the old defense team said prosecutors directed jail staff to read Richins’ notebook, which they claimed was a privileged communication.

“I don't see any legal issue with jail staff reviewing, scanning a notebook for words, diagrams or contraband that would constitute or implicate a safety concern,” the judge said Aug. 8.

“We would agree with that,” Wendy Lewis, one of Richins’ public defenders, responded. “I know that the motion filed by Ray Quinney has intimated that it went farther than that, but yes, as you said, we don't have any affidavits to support that.”

Lewis also agrees they don’t have evidence that Summit County Chief Prosecutor Bradley Bloodworth listened to phone calls between Richins and Ray Quinney associate Ramzi Hamady.

“Other than a few occasions on which Mr. Bloodworth listened to the minimal amount of time necessary to identify Mr. Hamady as a participant in the call, and after which Mr. Bloodworth promptly stopped the listening and moved on,” Mrazik said.

Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said the attorney-client phone calls were handed over to a third party attorney.

When Lewis and her partner Kathy Nester took over as Richins’ attorneys they asked the third-party attorney to remove the calls from the evidence database, which they did.

The calls were recorded because Hamady was not on an app used by the defense team to protect its conversations, but was instead on the normal Summit County jail phone line.

Olson did ask Mrazik to go farther than simply dismissing the old motion. She believes the motion was an attempt to introduce an issue that could be appealed, not not a good faith effort to ensure a fair trial the first go around. She said it’s becoming a common tactic.

“So if their client is convicted, they have a good shot at a second trial. Let's call this the poisonous breadcrumb strategy,” Olson said. “I am one member of the bar who strongly disagrees with that conduct.”

The county attorney asked the judge to include factual findings in his ruling that censure Ray Quinney and vindicate prosecutors.

But it’s not clear whether Mrazik will do that. He has yet to issue a written ruling.

Ray Quinney’s lead defense attorney, Skye Lazaro, declined to comment until he does.

Richins is slated for a three-day preliminary hearing that begins Aug. 26 to determine if she stands trial for the murder of her late husband Eric Richins.

 

[GrandmaBear]

My God. What bullsheet. Common tactic. They aren't even using the way to communicate to ensure confidentiality.

As far as her notebook, that is NOT in any way known to be or should be considered attorney/client privilege.

When she pulled her sh*t trying to tell her mom and brother what to say and even somewhat blaming her own attorney, Skye Lazarro, I said Skye should dump her. She did not., However, later she did.

This sh*t is going way too far. And it's a game.

If they didn't use the right way to communicate privately well then that's on them.

A tactic? Yeah I believe it is. All sorts of b.s is going on with defense lately. In many a case.

Fair is one thing, games are another.

Justice is what matters yet it is all just so much b.s.

To heck with the victims right?

It is ALL about the defendant these days.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://www.abc4.com/richins/kouri-richins-status-hearing/

Kouri Richins makes final court appearance days before preliminary hearing begins​

Kouri Richins appeared virtually in court on Wednesday, allowing for attorneys and the court to clear up some housekeeping items before the case moves forward to next week’s preliminary hearing.

Richins is scheduled to appear in a multi-day preliminary hearing starting Monday morning, Aug. 26. She faces a first-degree felony aggravated murder charge and attempted criminal homicide among other charges of drug distribution, fraud, and forgery in connection to the death of her husband, Eric Richins.

During Wednesday’s status hearing, it was revealed prosecutors intend to call four or five witnesses throughout the preliminary hearing. The defense meanwhile plans to call one or two witnesses.

The main concern presented by Judge Richard Mrazik surrounded out-of-court statements provided by two witnesses who may be called to the stand during the hearing. The two witnesses reportedly provided statements about conversations with Eric just months before his death when he first claimed Kouri was attempting to poison him.

Kouri’s new defense attorneys, Kathy Nester and Wendy Lewis, objected to various parts of the statements, claiming they were not reliable hearsay and should not be admissible.

Judge Mrazik overruled the defense’s objections for the sole purpose of the upcoming preliminary hearing. Mrazik, however, agreed with the defense that they reserve the right to object to the statements outside of the preliminary hearing.

Nester then requested Richins to appear in the courtroom without being in handcuffs as she has in previous hearings. In her request, Nester said “We, as a defense team, do not feel any threat. We feel very safe sitting next to her.” She also said the bindings would make it difficult for Richins to take notes during the hearing and would be a distraction for the defense team.

Mrazik did not offer a ruling on whether or not Richins would be free of handcuffs during the multi-day preliminary hearing. He first wanted to consider the request with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office before making a decision.

 

[GrandmaBear]

She hasn't had a single male attorney yet. I wonder if there's a reason for that.

Yes, being a bit sarcastic.

Not that females should feel safe from her..

I still have to wonder what she did to Skye. I was saying long before she bailed that she should. And eventually such happened.

This woman from all I've seen would throw anyone under the bus. Has her own family already embroiled and half in trouble or at least noted...

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Utah judge orders Kouri Richins to stand trial for murder, attempted murder of her husband

A Kamas mother charged with murdering her husband was ordered to stand trial before pleading not guilty

www.deseret.com

Published: Aug 27, 2024, 3:37 p.m. MDT

By Emily Ashcraft, KSL.com​

A Kamas mother, real estate agent and author accused of fatally poisoning her husband was ordered to stand trial for aggravated murder and attempted homicide on Tuesday by 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik.

Mrazik specified that Kouri Richins retains the presumption of innocence and said at this stage inferences must be made in favor of the prosecutors.

"We are not determining, in any degree, guilt at all. … Nothing the court says today affects her presumption of innocence in any way," he said.

Kouri Richins, 34, was ordered to stand trial for aggravated murder and attempted criminal homicide, both first-degree felonies; two counts of distributing a controlled substance, two counts of insurance fraud and two counts of filing a fraudulent insurance claim, all second-degree felonies; and three counts of forgery, a third-degree felony.

Following the judge's decision, Kouri Richins entered not guilty pleas for each charge and attorneys scheduled a four-week trial beginning April 28, 2025.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Kouri Richins’ attorneys plan to ask for bail and change of venue ahead of 2025 jury trial

Summit County woman accused of killing her husband Eric Richins in March 2022

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Kouri Richins’ attorneys plan to ask for bail and change of venue ahead of 2025 jury trial​

Attorneys made plans ahead of the trial next year for Kouri Richins, a Kamas mom accused of killing her husband before writing a children’s book about grief.

Her attorneys, Wendy Lewis and Kathryn Nester, said they intend to file multiple motions including a request that the judge release her ahead of trial, something he previously ruled against before the trial dates were set.

The attorneys also said they plan to ask the judge to consider the following:

• Reconsider ordering Richins to stand trial.
• Allow more than eight jurors in the trial.
• Try the charges separately in different jury trials.
• Try the case with jurors from outside of Summit County.

Third District Judge Richard Mrazik said he would consider having jurors in the case from Salt Lake County if Richins' attorneys show the other county would provide better jurors. He noted that the drive from Salt Lake County to Park City is not significantly different from the drive for many residents in Summit County. He did say press coverage of the case has not been limited to the county but has been statewide, nationwide and even worldwide.



Richins' next hearing was scheduled for Oct. 28 and, if the documents are filed, will be when Mrazik considers whether Richins should stay in jail ahead of her trial.

Another hearing was scheduled for Nov. 12 to hear other motions. Richins' jury trial is set to begin on April 28 and last about three weeks.