UT - Kouri Richins, 33, Author, wife, mom, charged in husband’s unexpected death last year, May 2023 #3

[ithinkiknowwhatsgoingon]

It really scares me that a woman could have this in her head and have 3 children with a man with such little regard for them much less for him.

She is beyond death penalty in my opinion, go firing squad.

She's pure evil and she will spend the rest of her life in jail.

 

[iamshadow21]

It really scares me that a woman could have this in her head and have 3 children with a man with such little regard for them much less for him.

She is beyond death penalty in my opinion, go firing squad.

Well, it is Utah, where that is actually an option!

 

[RickshawFan]

Video of KRichins' hearing in Judge Mrazik's courtroom, August 8, 2024:

Kouri Richins Judge Throws Out Defense’s Motion to Kick Prosecutors Off Case​

The judge for accused husband killer Kouri Richins denied the defense’s motion to toss the lead prosecutors off the case. Richins’ former attorneys filed the motion claiming the prosecutors had listened to privileged communication between Richins and her attorneys. Judge Richard Mzarik said there was no evidence of the accusations. Richins is currently awaiting trial for the murder of her husband, Eric Richins, in which she allegedly poisoned a Moscow Mule with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl.

No more silk button-down blouses for Kouri now that fashion-plate Skye has left the scene. I guess we’ll have to endure dowdy.

 

[RickshawFan]

Former lead defense attorney, Skye Lazaro sounds good ... what he said. So I don't get it......

Do you know why he is not her attorney now? Or is he her attorney but not the lead attorney?

Wrong gender. Lazaro is female.

 

[RickshawFan]

Oh, my… forged and fraudulent documents for insurance and loan applications. Also, there seems to be no sign in the medical reports which Kouri submitted for the bogus insurance right before he died that Eric had ever used dope, except MJ maybe twice a year. There goes the “he’s an addict” defense.

The preliminary hearing has major nuggets in the weeds.

 

[Seattle1]

Well, it is Utah, where that is actually an option!

This was decided more than a year ago -- no DP for Kouri.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/19/us/kouri-richins-husband-murder-utah/index.html

 

[Seattle1]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/19/us/kouri-richins-husband-murder-utah/index.html

8/19/2023

Prosecutors in the case against Kouri Richins, a Utah widow accused of killing her husband before she authored a children’s book about grief, said they do not intend to seek the death penalty against her.

“This decision was made in careful consultation with Eric Richins’ father and his two sisters, who are Eric Richins’ personal representative and victim representative, respectively,” stated a notice of intent from the Summit County Attorney’s Office filed with the court Friday.

 

[LordMo]

well, maybe she'll have plenty of time to write her follow-ups -- "are you exonerating me?" "are you paroling me?" and "are you gonna trade cigarettes with me or what?"

 

[Niner]

Tuesday, August 27th:
*Preliminary Hearings (Day 2 of 3) (@ 10am MT) - UT - *Eric Eugene Richins (39) poisoned with a lethal dose of fentanyl by wife on Mar. 3, 2022 in Kamas. - *Kouri Darden Richins (33/now 34) arrested (5/8/23) & charged (6/5/23) with 2nd degree aggravated murder & 3 counts of possession of drugs with intent to distribute. [These charges were dismissed on 3/25/24-see recharges]. Re-charged (3/25/24) with 2 counts of 1st degree criminal homicide aggravated murder (DV), 2 counts of 2nd degree distribution of a controlled substance, 2 counts of 2nd degree mortgage fraud (Iron Bridge Financial & Boomerrang Finance), 2 counts of 2nd degree insurance fraud & 2 counts of 3rd degree forgery. Held without bond. Bond denied (6/12/23). DA will not seek DP (8/18/23). 3rd Judicial District Court Summit County
Civil case [#221200316]: After Kouri failed to show evidence she complied with the agreement, Justice Court Judge Brendan McCullagh found Kouri guilty of the assault on 5/13/24.
*Civil case vs Katie Richins Benson. Property dispute.
Third District court Judge Richard Mrazik presiding. Prosecutors Patricia Cassell & Brad Bloodworth & Defense attorneys Kathy Nester & Wendy Lewis.
Case & court info from 6/5/23 thru 8/15/24 reference post #255 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...ted-death-last-year-may-2023-3.711978/page-13
8/21/24 Update: Richins appeared virtually in court on Wednesday, allowing for attorneys & the court to clear up some housekeeping items before the case moves forward to next week’s preliminary hearing. 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 & Wendy Lewis, objected to various parts of the statements, claiming they were not reliable hearsay & 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 & 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. Judge Mrazik said he would rule on that by Monday [8/26/24] morning. Murder: Next preliminary hearings on 8/26/24 thru 8/28/24 @ 9:30am.
8/26/24 Update: Preliminary hearing day 1: Summit County Chief Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth is providing the court with an overview of the state’s preliminary case. The first witness was Det. Jeff O’Driscoll, the investigator the state called in Richins’ detention hearing. The state did not ask him questions, so Richins’ attorney Wendy Lewis began with the cross examination. Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth then did his redirect of O'Driscoll. Next witness was former Salt Lake City homicide investigator Chris Kotrodimos. The state is using him as a digital forensics expert & has retained him as an investigative consultant. Summit County prosecutor Joe Hill asked questions of Kotrodimos. Investigative consultant Kotrodimos testified that call logs, texts, web history & web searches were deleted from Kouri Richins’ primary phone from January to mid-March 2022. Defense attorney Alex Ramos is crossing witness and investigative consultant Lotrodimos. And redirect by Prosecutor Hill. Next witness was forensic accountant Brooke Karrington, who also testified at the detention hearing last year. Prosecutor Byron Burmester asked her about Richins’ alleged financial crimes. On top of attempted & aggravated murder, she’s accused of mortgage fraud, forgery & insurance fraud. Direct by prosecutor Burmester. Defense attorney Kathy Nester cross-examined Karrington. Judge Richard Mrazik ended the proceedings shortly before 5pm. Neither the state nor the defense say they will call any more witnesses. The preliminary hearing will resume at 10am, 8/27/24, half an hour later than initially scheduled. Richins' defense team has indicated she will waive her right to testify & Mrazik could rule whether she stands trial for the 11 felonies she's accused of tomorrow. For more info see post #271 page 14, thread #3.

 

[Justice101]

What do you think is KR best piece of evidence she has to refute the prosecutions' evidence?

1) No evidence of THC in gummy?
2) No evidence of fentanyl in glass she served him?
3) Something else?

 

[SteveS]

What do you think is KR best piece of evidence she has to refute the prosecutions' evidence?

1) No evidence of THC in gummy?
2) No evidence of fentanyl in glass she served him?
3) Something else?

I don't think either of those arguments helps the defense at all, and maybe they even support the prosecution.

Kouri's version of events is that
1 she and Eric were celebrating her closing on a house for her business
2 she made Eric a Moscow Mule in the kitchen, brought it to their bedroom where he drank it in bed, and he also consumed a THC gummy
3 shortly after, she went to put one of her children to bed and fell asleep
4 she woke up around 3:22 a.m. and found Eric Richins deceased at the foot of their bed, and called 911.

The idea that the fentanyl came from gummies laced with THC is a KR attempt to explain how he died from fentanyl. If there's no THC there, it's casts doubt on her claims.

The state, on the other hand, says she put pills in his drink that she admits she made for him.

In addition, the idea that the glass she served him was missing fentanyl is erroneous. When 911 arrived, it was not on the scene, so there's no way to say what it might have had. And the "missing glass" is an issue for her as she was the only one there.

Yet her story was that she left while he was drinking from it, and then came back to find him dead, and frantically called 911 for help while she tried to resuscitate him. The evidence is that once he drank that drink, so strong a dose, he would have been killed almost immediately. So what happened to the glass? Where did it go? How did it walk away (and why)? Those are damning issues for her.

 

[Megnut]

Court is back live. Judge has been querying the State on various points/counts.

Now Judge is hearing from the Defense.

This Judge is sharp. Affable but sharp.

Keeps pulling Counsel back to reasonability, that this is prelim, not trial.

She's still trying to make some kind of point that there's no way to know if fentynal was in the drugs she purchased.

 

[Megnut]

Second defense counselor opens with Utah foregoing with grand juries and all the power goes to the Statw to decide.

Judge laughs and says, "I think I have some role in that".

Argues that THIS case doesn't meet the low threshold -- based on causation. Claiming there's no evidence linking Kouri to (causing the) death.

Jmo

 

[Megnut]

I believe we're in a brief recess.

The Defense asking the Judge to rule that the State hasn't met their burden.

The State confident they have.

I am not sure what happened to the question of whether Kouri would take the stand, but I get the impression the Judge is set to rule after the break upon whether this case warrants a trial.

He has asks whipsmart questions so IMO he understands the case, both its strengths and weaknesses.

I think it's headed to trial. But then, I'm not sure there was any real doubt of that.

JMO

 

[SteveS]

At the end today, Judge Richard Mrazik said prosecutors showed probable cause for all 11 felonies, and Kouri Richins pleaded not guilty for all 11. He ruled that jury selection is scheduled for the last week of April, and that more discussion is needed about how jury selection will work. Jury selection may last a week, the attorneys estimate.

This was an alternative to a grand jury. The bar is very low - if you accept all the evidence they have in a light most favorable to the prosecution, is there enough evidence to convict?

As should be expected, the judge said yes.

The parties may meet for a pretrial conference in late September.

For a running blog on the 2-day prelim's details, by a local radio reporter, see:

Live Blog: Kouri Richins in court for preliminary hearing

KPCW's live blog has the latest details from reporter Connor Thomas who's in the courtroom during Kouri Richins' preliminary hearing at Summit County’s Third District Court. See complete coverage of the Kouri Richins case here.

www.kpcw.org