UT - Kouri Richins, 33, Author, wife, mom, charged in husband’s “unexpected” death last year, May 2023-- MEDIA, MAPS, TIMELINE **NO DISCUSSION**

[Seattle1]

Evidence in the Case Against Kouri Richins | Vinnie Politan Investigates

Vinnie Politan examines evidence presented in pretrial motions in the case against Kouri Richins for the death of her husband, Eric.

www.courttv.com

1/24/25

 

[Seattle1]

1/27/25

Kouri Richins Case Evidence | Vinnie Politan Investigates​

 

[Seattle1]

Court concerned about jury questions in Kouri Richins case

Kouri Richins' murder case will soon select a jury. But many Utahns have already heard of her case, which creates concerns of the court.

ksltv.com

2/3/25

On Monday, Richins was in the courtroom, wearing plain clothes and shackles on her feet, as the judge discussed with the staff how an impartial jury could possibly be found by April.

Although local news cameras weren’t allowed inside the courtroom, KSL TV was approved to sit in with just one other member of the media, the court staff and Richins.

The court’s main focus Monday was to figure out how it will phrase the questions on the jury questionnaire. The questions will go out to the initial jury pool of 1,500 people, and the court knows many have seen the news coverage of Richins’ case already — which is a concern of the judge, Richard Mrazik.

[..]

It was decided that both attorneys and the court will change the question format, so potential jurors will answer them on a scale of one to five instead of just “yes” or “no.” The jury questions will be addressed again on Feb. 21.

 

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892688178911576325

 

[Seattle1]

High court rejects jury selection appeal in Kouri Richins murder trial

The Utah Supreme Court says jurors will only come from Summit County and will be selected via video conferencing.

www.kpcw.org

2/19/25

And the five-page decision also says Utah law does not allow multi-county juries. Had the court ruled differently, the Richins trial may have been the first in Utah history to draw jurors from more than one county.

Third District Judge Richard Mrazik, who is presiding over the case, initially granted in-person selection.

But the supreme court justices wrote Scott is “not required to defer to what amounted to a recommendation from the trial court.”

State court procedure gives her the ultimate authority. Her decision follows a 2023 order requiring jury selection to be conducted virtually in all 3rd District trials.

 

[Seattle1]

Kouri Richins jury selection appeal rejected by Utah Supreme Court

Kouri Richins' jury selection appeal in her murder trial has been rejected by the Utah Supreme Court.

kutv.com

2/19/25

 

[Seattle1]

https://www.abc4.com/richins/kouri-richins-jury-selection/

12/18/24

Scott denied the request because the defense did not effectively highlight “extraordinary circumstances” to hold in-person jury selection, and having jurors travel from Salt Lake to Summit County would cause a “significant and unwarranted burden” for the potential jurors.

 

[Seattle1]

3/18/25

“A fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Summit County because of the extensive publicity that is ongoing and inflammatory. The inflammatory nature of the publicity has included inaccurate information and inadmissible information. The publicity has been extremely pervasive in the small community of Summit County. Remediations, such as enlarging the jury pool will not cure the problem,” the 58-page filing states. See link below for pdf.

Kouri Richins defense asks to move jury trial to Salt Lake County - Park Record

Third District Court documents filed by lawyers Wendy Lewis and Kathy Nester on Monday argue local, national and international news coverage about the case has “permeated Summit County” and impacts her right to a fair trial.

www.parkrecord.com

 

[Seattle1]

Kouri Richins requests change of venue, saying fair trial 'nearly impossible' in Summit County

Kouri Richins, the woman charged with killing her husband in 2022, is asking the court to move her trial from Summit County to Salt Lake County.

www.fox13now.com

3/18/25

As of Monday, jury selection is scheduled to begin on April 22. The trial itself is set to begin on April 29 in Park City (unless the court agrees to the change of venue request).

 

[Seattle1]

Kouri Richins' defense attorneys want trial moved out of Summit County

Defense attorneys for the Utah mother accused of killing her husband by drugging him with fentanyl have asked the judge to move her trial out of Summit County,

kutv.com

3/17/25

 

[Seattle1]

Kouri Richins’ attorneys ask to move murder trial to Salt Lake

Defense attorneys for the Kamas mother of three accused of fatally poisoning her husband argue she can’t get a fair trial in Summit County.

www.kpcw.org

3/17/25

 

[Seattle1]

Kouri Richins' attorneys request trial move to Salt Lake County

Kouri Richins is accused of killing her husband in May 2023. Her attorneys have requested her trial be moved from Summit County to Salt Lake County.

ksltv.com

3/17/25

In court documents, Richins’ attorneys cite Rule 29 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments and Article I section 12 of the Utah State Constitution as reasons to move the trial.

 

[Seattle1]

Kouri Richins' trial delayed after judge denies request to move trial to Salt Lake County

A woman accused of fatally poisoning her husband will no longer face trial this month after her attorneys asked to put the case on hold while they appeal a denial of their motion to change the location of the trial.

www.ksl.com

4/7/25

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Kouri Richins' trial is delayed after her attorneys asked to put it on hold while they file an appeal.
• Judge Richard Mrazik denied her request to move the trial to Salt Lake County, ruling the court could find impartial jurors in Summit County.
• Richins was scheduled for trial later this month, and over a thousand potential jurors already responded to surveys.

 

[Seattle1]

https://www.abc4.com/video/judge-denies-motion-to-move-kouri-richins-murder-trial-to-salt-lake-county/10607665/

4/8/25

 

[Seattle1]

Richins trial on hold after judge denies motion to move case to Salt Lake County

The trial of Kouri Richins is on hold as the defense seeks an appeal to a decision denying their request to move the case from Summit County to Salt Lake County.

www.fox13now.com

4/7/25

Edelman was brought in to testify about the findings, outlining how high-profile media coverage could potentially poison the jury pool.

"People who know more information, have more case knowledge, are more likely to have bias," testified Edelman. "That's exactly what we find in our survey. We're finding consistent, predictive relationships... based on thirty-plus years of social science research."

On cross examination, state prosecutor Bradley Bloodworth took issue with Edelman's methodology of sampling media coverage. Edelman testified that the Summit County survey primarily sampled media coverage from The Park Record.

 

[Seattle1]

Kouri Richins murder trial delayed indefinitely

A judge granted the delay so defense attorneys can argue for seating a Salt Lake County jury in Summit County.

www.kpcw.org

4/7/25

Richins’ attorneys want to appeal the decision, so they asked Mrazik to delay the trial, which was set to begin April 28.

Summit County prosecutors didn’t oppose the motion.

Mrazik did take note that Richins is still in jail, and her attorneys said they’d ask the judge to consider granting her bail for a third time. He said he’s “disinclined” to do so after denying her twice.

 

[Seattle1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1915459047538442515

 

[Seattle1]

Utah Supreme Court rejects Kouri Richins appeal on jury issues

Justices unanimously rejected a request from both the defense and prosecution to expand the jury pool in Kouri Richins' trial.

www.courttv.com

4/23/25

SALT LAKE CITY (Scripps News Salt Lake City) — The Utah Supreme Court has denied a pair of requests from prosecutors and defense attorneys overseeing the murder trial of Kouri Richins.

In a ruling issued Thursday morning, the justices unanimously rejected the attorneys’ requests to expand the jury pool and conduct in-person questioning of those prospective jurors.

[..]

The lawyers also challenged a decision by the 3rd District Court’s presiding judge, who rejected their request to hold in-person voir dire, instead of virtually, as is the current practice. Judge Laura Scott rejected arguments that the high-profile nature of the Richins case necessitated an in-person jury selection process.

The Utah Supreme Court justices ruled that Judge Scott did nothing wrong with her decision.

 

[Seattle1]

Kouri Richins murder case to resume since Utah Supreme Court won't hear second appeal

The Kamas mother of three's defense attorneys wanted Salt Lake jurors, but the trial will happen locally, with a Summit County jury.

www.kpcw.org

6/6/25

June 6, it reaffirmed that jurors will only come from Summit County, and the murder trial will happen at the Silver Summit Justice Center outside Park City.

The four-week trial had been set for May, but Mrazik delayed the proceedings indefinitely to allow for an appeal.

The Summit County Attorney’s Office immediately asked Mrazik to schedule a hearing to get the case moving again. Prosecutors declined to comment further.