Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- A Utah judge denied bail Tuesday for Kamas mother Kouri Richins, who is charged with aggravated murder in her husband's death.
- The judge ruled there should be a separate trial for her mortgage fraud charges, but not for her attempted murder charge.
- He also ruled on other motions as attorneys prepare for a jury trial planned for next April.
PARK CITY — A 3rd District judge has denied a repeated request for bail from a Kamas mother accused of killing her husband.
In a hearing Tuesday, Judge Richard Mrazik said that when he first considered bail after Kouri Richins was arrested in June 2023, she had structural ties to the community through her business and her children. Now, her children are under the guardianship of her husband's family, and her business is gone.
"There simply are not reasonably available means of mitigating her risk to the community and to herself or the strong incentive for her to flee the jurisdiction of the court," Mrazik said.
He also said although she no longer faces the possibility of the death penalty, like she did when he last considered it, Richins is now charged with two first-degree felonies, meaning she could still spend the rest of her life in prison.
Her attorneys argued that Richins would never leave her children under any circumstance.
"The most important connection is the one with her sons, and she will never, ever, ever abandon her sons, even if it means she spends the rest of her life in prison," Richins' attorney said.
She also argued that Richins is a "critical part of her defense" and wants to know what is going on, but it is harder to share documents and watch videos with her at the jail than it would be outside of the jail.
Richins is charged with aggravated murder and attempted murder, first-degree felonies; two counts of insurance fraud and two counts of filing a fraudulent insurance claim, second-degree felonies; plus three counts of forgery, a third-degree felony.
Mrazik granted a motion from prosecutors during Tuesday's hearing to dismiss two counts of distributing a controlled substance, second-degree felonies.
The judge also denied a request from Richins' attorneys to try her charge for attempted murder in a separate trial from the aggravated murder charge, ruling that the two were part of a common scheme or plan. He said in both instances, charges allege she purchased fentanyl, administered it to her husband in food or drink and left her husband alone.
Mrazik did, however, separate four charges related to mortgage fraud that allegedly occurred in 2021, ruling that they should be presented as part of a separate trial, as Richins' attorneys requested, to keep the trial fair and not prejudice the jury.
"There is too much temporal distance and too much dissimilarity," he said.
Richins' attorney, Kathy Nester, argued that those charges were completely unrelated, and including them would create a slippery slope allowing any crime in the years before to relate to a murder charge. She said the only connection is the relation to money.
She said in a statement after the hearing: "With two charges dismissed and four others severed, the defense stands more confident. The case against our client is rapidly narrowing, exposing deeper weaknesses with each step."
In arguing for the attempted murder charge to also be tried separately, Nestor said it would cause prejudice to Richins. She said there is no medical proof showing that, when prosecutors claim Richins attempted to kill her husband, it was anything other than an allergy attack.
Although the judge said the evidence is circumstantial but not direct, Nester argued instead that the evidence supporting the attempted murder charge is "pure speculation." She said Eric Richins had a normal day that day after taking a nap.
"This is so overwhelming in terms of prejudice … to unring that bell is not realistic, I think," she said.
She also said if Richins were convicted of aggravated murder, there would not need to be a second trial for attempted murder, which she said is a secondary charge — suggesting that if it were separated, prosecutors could end up dropping it.
Deputy Salt Lake County attorney Bradley Bloodworth, in arguing whether the attempted murder charge should be separated, pointed to the text message Kouri Richins sent to the person they allege provided her fentanyl, saying she needed "something stronger." He said the evidence from the attempted murder charge shows her preparations and plans.
He said prosecutors only charged Richins with mortgage fraud that was "easy to prove on paper" to not distract from the trial, but they could have charged "many more crimes" between the 2021 mortgage fraud charges and the murder charge. He said forging bank statements is evidence that Richins knew she was out of money.
"The state is entitled to present its evidence in context, and this context is invaluable," he said.
The judge also denied a request to have 12 jurors on the case, rather than eight. He said Utah's law requiring eight instead of 12 jurors "may be on the wrong side of history," but it is the law he took an oath to uphold, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled a 12-person jury does not violate Sixth Amendment rights.
He granted a motion agreed to by both prosecutors and Richins' attorneys that people will be summoned for the jury from both Salt Lake and Summit counties.
After more arguments, Mrazik also ruled that jury selection should happen in person rather than virtually, which is the default in Utah right now. He said because of the media attention in this case, having the jurors appear in person will expose them to that and let them know what they are getting into.
The jury trial is scheduled to begin in April. That jury will be asked to consider the charges for aggravated murder and attempted murder, first-degree felonies; two counts of filing a fraudulent insurance claim, a second-degree felony; and one count of forgery, a third-degree felony.
