Defense attorneys for Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother of three accused of poisoning her husband with a fatal dose of fentanyl in March 2022, are asking a Summit County judge to move her murder trial to a courtroom in Salt Lake County.
Third District Court documents filed by lawyers Wendy Lewis and Kathy Nester on Monday argue local, national and international news coverage about the case has “permeated Summit County” and impacts her right to a fair trial.
“A fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Summit County because of the extensive publicity that is ongoing and inflammatory. The inflammatory nature of the publicity has included inaccurate information and inadmissible information. The publicity has been extremely pervasive in the small community of Summit County. Remediations, such as enlarging the jury pool will not cure the problem,” the 58-page filing states.
Defense attorneys cited 12 articles written by The Park Record, KPCW and Town Lift as the beginning of a “media campaign that has continued to vilify Ms. Richins” since her arrest in May 2023. They questioned the reasonable likelihood that a fair trial could take place in the same place as the alleged crime.
“Since her arrest these three news sources alone have published over 140 stories to date about Ms. Richins, with new stories being published weekly. … These stories have almost exclusively highlighted the prosecution’s theory of the case, even when it is incorrect,” the motion said.
For example, the defense states The Park Record has reported Kouri Richins poisoned her husband, Eric Richins, with a Moscow Mule in 26 of 64 articles but argues that theory has never been publicized by the state.
Arresting documents filed by the Summit County Attorney’s Office in May 2023 reference Kouri allegedly telling deputies “she made Eric a Moscow Mule,” went to sleep and found him deceased several hours later. The medical examiner’s report states Eric died of an overdose after ingesting five times the lethal dose of fentanyl orally.
Search warrants from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office also indicate law enforcement was looking for copper mugs, commonly used to serve a Moscow Mule. Prosecutors have also discussed in court what they see as a pattern from Kouri of an alleged attempt to poison Eric with food and drink so she could benefit financially.
The defense has refuted the state’s claims in court, offering alternative theories to the state’s allegations such as mishandlings of evidence.
Nester Lewis retained Dr. Bryan Edleman of Trial Innovations to construct a survey testing the effect of publicity in the case, according to court documents. Edleman found that almost 80% of Summit County residents recognized the case, and it was 98% among people who listen to the radio or read the newspaper.
According to the survey, around 69% said they believe Kouri is guilty and 50% said the defendant would have a hard time convincing them she is not guilty. Meanwhile in larger Salt Lake County, 42% said they recognized the case. Of those, 58% said they believe Kouri is guilty, and 41% said she would have difficulties convincing them otherwise.
“This supports the argument that the small population in Summit County will make it nearly impossible for Ms. Richins to get a fair trial within the county,” court filings state.
The defense also argued the prominence of Eric Richins’ family name in Summit County would create a negative bias against Kouri, who is a transplant “from a non-LDS, low-income family.”
Court documents allege informal interviews inducted residents, the prospective jury members, “do not want to make an enemy of” the Richins family and almost 27% said they knew someone that had a direct or indirect connection to the family. Only 3.5% of Salt Lake County surveytakers had the same response.
Additionally, stakeholder engagement survey found that common comments made about Kouri Richins include:
- “She killed her husband with a poisoned Moscow mule.”
- “She looked up how much fentanyl it would take to kill him.”
- “She was having affairs with rich men.”
- “She was broke and desperate and killed him for insurance money.”
- “She killed him so she could buy a mansion with her lover with the life insurance.”
- “I’ve read all about that girl in the newspapers. She is so guilty.”
- “Why are we wasting our money paying for the defense of a guilty person when there are so many other things our taxpayer dollars could go to?”
- “Why does she get free money?”
- “Good luck to her, that girl has no chance going up against that family in this county.”
The motion to change venue comes after the Utah Supreme Court rejected a joint request from prosecutors and the defense to conduct jury selection in person and expand the pool to Salt Lake County. Justices denied the request, requiring the two sides to conduct jury selection virtually amongst Summit County residents.
“The only assurance that Ms. Richins’ constitutional right to a fair trial can be protected is to change the venue of this trial. … The inconvenience of moving this trial to Salt Lake County is minimal compared to the risk of leaving the trial in Summit County,” the filing states. “The state can present its case to any jury in any county without prejudice, but the same is not true for Ms. Richins. Summit County’s residents have been inundated with information about this case for the past two years, making it nearly impossible to find jurors who have not already formed an opinion as to Ms. Richins’ guilt.”
Kouri faces nine felony charges stemming from the death of her husband, Eric Richins, including aggravated murder and attempted criminal homicide.
Kouri Richins and her family have maintained her innocence. Since her arrest, Kouri has been held in the Summit County Jail without bail. A four-week trial is scheduled to start in late April.