Kouri Richins’ defense attorney Skye Lazaro estimated there are already 1.2 million individual pieces of evidence to comb through, most of it cell phone data.
Her team and prosecutors from the Summit County Attorney’s Office are in the midst of discovery at this point in the murder case.
Kouri is accused of fatally poisoning her husband Eric with fentanyl. She would go on to write a children’s book about grieving his death.
Prosecutors have made allegations about financial misdeeds to support their theory she did it for financial gain, and Eric and Kouri’s families have each called the other side “greedy” amid numerous lawsuits over the late husband’s estate and trust.
Sept. 1, Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik asked both sides’ legal teams if they’d like to schedule a preliminary hearing, when prosecutors must show they have enough evidence to bring murder and drug charges. The prosecution appeared more ready than the defense.
Lazaro thought February or March 2024 seemed realistic for a preliminary hearing, given the prosecution’s nearly 18-month head start.
“I’m going to be ineffective from the word ‘go’ if I don’t read what they’ve provided to me,” she said.
Mrazik didn’t set a preliminary hearing date, but he could make that decision at a scheduling hearing Nov. 3, which will be the next time Richins is expected back in court. He said he’d be open to moving up the date if Lazaro made that request.
Richins’ defense attorney indicated Friday she was mindful of the need to move quickly, as the defendant will be held without bail in the Summit County Jail until her trial is over.
In a statement following the 10-minute hearing, the county attorney’s office reiterated that Richins “enjoys a constitutional presumption of innocence which everyone should observe and protect.”