The decision to pause all proceedings in Kouri Richins’ murder case followed an hours-long hearing on whether to summon Salt Lake County jurors to Summit County for the trial.
April 7, 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik ruled to keep the trial in Summit County, with Summit County jurors, despite defense attorneys’ concerns about impartiality.
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.
Richins is the former Kamas real estate agent accused of fatally poisoning her husband Eric Richins in 2022. The mother of three would go on to write a children’s book about grieving him and was arrested in 2023 in connection with his death.
She’s charged with nine felonies, including aggravated murder, attempted murder and financial crimes. Richins pleaded not guilty to each count and maintains her innocence.
The case has garnered national and international media coverage. Her attorneys worry that a Summit County jury will have been exposed to too much information about the case to be impartial.
Mrazik shares their concerns about media coverage but said they didn’t meet all of the legal standards required to move proceedings or call jurors from a different county in Utah.
Defense attorneys had to prove there was a “reasonable likelihood” a fair trial couldn’t be had with a local jury, and they had to show more than just substantial and prejudicial pretrial media coverage.
“The nature and extent of the media coverage of this case is an indictment of those media outlets and our current media culture,” Mrazik said.
The other three parts of the legal test are related to Richins’ standing in the community, the size of the community and the nature and gravity of the charges.
Mrazik also agreed with the defense that the charges were serious, but noted that the case doesn’t involve the inflammatory factors that led to moving past Utah cases, such as a child victim.
When it comes to the size of Summit County, Mrazik said enough potential jurors have either not heard of the case or not formed an opinion about it.
Finally, the judge found that Kouri Darden Richins and her late husband Eric Richins have similar standing in the community.
Both the prosecution and the defense said they were prepared to go to trial April 28. The defense clarified it needs additional time to argue that a Salt Lake County jury would give their client a better chance at a fair trial.
Richins’ attorneys originally filed a motion to change venue last month. Venue is a bit of a misnomer, because they’re open to Salt Lake jurors driving to Summit County instead of moving all proceedings to Salt Lake County.
Prosecutors had said that’s not allowed under Utah law. Mrazik said April 7 it is permitted, if an appeals court favors a Salt Lake County jury pool and says he erred.
No more hearings are expected until the appeal is filed.
About 1,100 Summit County jurors have completed a preliminary survey and may be called for jury selection. But now it’s unclear when — and still unclear if — that will happen.
