Third District Judge Richard Mrazik granted a public defender’s request to withdraw as Kouri Richins’ attorney Monday.
Amy Fowler has represented the Kamas Valley mother of three in a pending fraud and financial crimes case since June. In July 2025, Summit County prosecutors charged Richins with 26 felony counts.
The case was on hold while Richins stood trial for her husband’s murder. After a jury found her guilty, Richins was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Fowler’s exit follows a letter Richins sent to Mrazik asking for a new lawyer in the pending fraud case.
The letter says the two had experienced a “complete breakdown in [their] attorney-client relationship.” It was made public Oct. 15.
Richins says she learned Fowler had previously represented a witness from the murder trial in an unrelated drug case. The witness was Richins’ housekeeper who testified to selling her the fentanyl she used to fatally poison her husband.
Richins says she “confronted” Fowler but they disagreed over whether it posed a conflict of interest.
The letter raises other issues, such as the “close personal relationships” Richins claims exist between her attorney, the prosecutors and the judge.
She also complained about a 2023 drunk driving incident in which Fowler pleaded guilty to misdemeanor impaired driving.
Fowler requested to withdraw at a court hearing Monday morning. Mrazik will grant the request once a replacement is found.
It’s the second time attorneys have quit on Richins.
She initially hired private attorneys in the murder case, but they withdrew two years before trial due to an unspecified “irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation.”
The court appointed public defenders after that, since Mrazik found that Richins was unable to afford representation.
Richins is asking for a new murder trial and maintains her innocence.
