Summit County prosecutors and Richins’ defense team are asking the state’s highest court to grant an exception for jury selection in April, citing extraordinary media attention.
If the court grants the appeal, 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik believes the trial could be the first in Utah to draw jurors from two counties.
Mrazik had previously ordered in-person selection of jurors from both Summit and Salt Lake counties. That was in response to concerns raised by attorneys on both sides about selecting an impartial jury for the trial set to unfold at the Silver Summit Justice Center near Park City.
Late last month, the district’s Presiding Judge Laura Scott vetoed in-person jury selection, saying she was not persuaded “that this is an extraordinary case or that manifest injustice would result from virtual jury selection.”
Mrazik then reversed his ruling allowing jurors from two counties.
Scott’s decision also prompted the emergency appeal, which prosecutors and the defense filed together shortly before Christmas.
They’re asking Utah’s high court to reverse Scott’s decision. It’s not clear if the court will decide to hear the case.
Richins is charged with nine felonies, including aggravated murder, attempted murder and financial crimes in connection with the 2022 overdose death of her husband Eric Richins. She wrote a children’s book about grieving his death and has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The case has captured the attention of local, national and international media. As Mrazik has said, often “the parking lot is full, the lobby is full, and the gallery is full” for routine pretrial hearings.
In their petition to the Utah Supreme Court, prosecutors and the defense team say the court system must trust Mrazik’s “boots on the ground” perspective regarding a fair trial.
They claim they need to assess how jurors respond to the attention before seating them for a trial set to run three weeks.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Utah state courts have selected juries via video conferencing.
But there’s no precedent for a two-county jury pool, Mrazik has said. In other cases with impartiality concerns, Utah courts only call jurors from a single, separate county.
If the high court decides to hear the appeal, Scott will first be allowed to respond to the petition. Oral arguments before the panel of five justices could follow.
Jury selection in the Richins case is set for mid-April 2025. The petition from the Summit County Attorney’s Office and Richins’ public defenders asks for a decision by February.
If Richins is found guilty of the murder charge, she may spend the rest of her life in prison. She’s been held in the Summit County Jail without bond since her arrest in 2023.
Neither side has asked to move the entire murder trial to another city or county.
The Richins trial is set for April 28. The next scheduled hearing is Jan. 23, when Mrazik is expected to decide which evidence will be admissible.
