The controversy over the “Walk the Dog” letter Kouri Richins allegedly wrote to her mom, and which prosecutors called witness tampering, spawned numerous motions.
The afternoon of Nov. 3, Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik dismissed all of them.
Kouri is in Summit County jail awaiting trial, accused of poisoning her husband Eric with fentanyl. In September, authorities found a letter ostensibly written to her mother, with instructions for her brother to testify Eric purchased the opioid.
Prosecutors asked the court to bar her from speaking with her mom and brother, alleging the letter was witness tampering. The defense fired back, saying the state of Utah was throwing around unproven accusations and prejudicing the jury pool.
Mrazik denied both sides’ motions, and more importantly, refused to dismiss the case. Kouri can still talk to her family, and the state won’t be penalized for making the “Walk the Dog” letter public.
He told prosecutors the county jail already monitors Kouri’s communications, which will allow them to contradict any allegedly false testimony at trial.
And he told the defense he remains confident that long and careful selection will yield impartial jurors.
But there’s a wrinkle: Kouri didn’t just write the “Walk the Dog” letter. She wrote 60 more pages, too.
She passed the rest of her writing, plus a second letter prosecutors say another inmate gave her, to defense attorney Skye Lazaro in an envelope in September.
The state says that could be evidence, and it wants to see the documents.
Lazaro said it’s privileged information, but after much discussion Nov. 3, she agreed to give a third-party attorney Kouri’s 60 additional pages and the other inmate’s letter.
Prosecutors will select that attorney, and Mrazik will issue a strict order later about who is allowed to see the documents.
He indicated during the Nov. 3 hearing he would prefer prosecutors not see what was in the envelope, and the attorney they select to review it would act in their interest.
The judge told both sides to meet and decide the best way to proceed before December. Then he’ll set up a closed hearing to see if the writings are, first, actually privileged and, second, relevant to the case.
Kouri has claimed the 60 pages are the rest of a fictional book she’s working on.
Nov. 3, Lazaro also claimed jail staff had already searched the envelope it was in multiple times. It contained more than just Kouri’s alleged manuscript and the other inmate’s letter, but those will be the only documents up for review in December.
December’s hearing will address the schedule of the case going forward too, now that the defense’s request to dismiss the case was denied.
