On April 11, the Summit County Attorney’s Office filed a copy of a check the Gordon Law Group wrote to Kouri Richins in January 2022 refunding a retainer fee.
That’s two months before her husband, Eric Richins, died of a fentanyl overdose. Kouri is charged with murdering him, and prosecutors want to establish a motive.
They say new details surrounding Kouri’s consultation with a divorce attorney in the months before Eric’s death could help. But the Heber-based Gordon Law Group is opposing a subpoena issued in February, citing attorney-client privilege.
So the new filings also include three telephone transcripts: two between Kouri and her mother, one between her and her brother.
Prosecutors are arguing Kouri waived her attorney-client privileges by disclosing a “significant part of the matter or communication” with divorce attorney Marie Bramwell to her family. If a Third District Court judge agrees, the Heber law firm may be forced to hand over records about Kouri.
Kouri, for her part, says in the phone calls made Dec. 18, 2023, she had every right to consult an attorney and said, “[Eric] did it first.”
Eric consulted both a divorce and an estate attorney in October 2020, at which point he established a trust for their three kids and cut Kouri out of his will. She’s been contesting that transfer in civil court.
At the time, neither husband nor wife knew the other had seen a divorce attorney.
Prosecutors in the murder case have said Kouri’s motive was financial. In more recent filings, they’ve also included details about an alleged affair, including messages between them on the day of Eric’s death.
Kouri’s mother Lisa has alleged Eric himself wasn’t faithful, which Eric’s family spokesperson Greg Skordas denied.
Bramwell and the Gordon Law Group will be able to respond to prosecutors’ motion to compel their response to the subpoena. They did not say at the time of publication how they plan to respond.
