Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik moved to appoint a public defender for Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother of three charged with the murder of her husband, during a status hearing on Wednesday.
The afternoon court filing states “indigent counsel” may be appointed to Kouri following the departure of her defense team last week. Mrazik was inclined to appoint Salt Lake City-based criminal defense law firm Nester Lewis.
The attorneys, Wendy Lewis and Kathy Nester, meet the requirements of Rule 8 in the Rules of Criminal Procedure. It states: “A defendant charged with a public offense has the right to self-representation, and if indigent, has the right to court-appointed counsel if the defendant faces any possibility of the deprivation of liberty.”
An indigent has no financial resources to pay for their own defense. A 1963 Supreme Court decision, Gideon v. Wainwright, established a constitutional right for court-appointed legal counsel.
The Summit County Attorney’s Office will have the opportunity to object to the appointment during a status hearing scheduled for noon on Friday.
Mrazik also ruled that Kouri is not allowed to give any media interviews until she secures an attorney to protect her Fifth Amendment rights — the right to a fair trial and protection against self-incrimination.
He allowed attorney Skye Lazaro and law firm Ray Quinney & Nebeker to withdraw from the case on Monday. Their court filing cited “an irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation.”
Kouri faces 11 felony counts related to the death of her husband, Eric Richins. Prosecutors allege she poisoned him with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule in March 2022. Kouri was arrested just over a year ago, and she’s been held in the Summit County Jail without bail since.
She’s charged with aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide, distribution of a controlled substance forgery, mortgage fraud and false insurance claims.
Kouri and her family have maintained her innocence.
She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. The case is not up for capital punishment.