Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother of three facing life in prison without parole after a Summit County jury convicted her of killing her husband, Eric Richins, has appealed her aggravated murder conviction, but the team of defense attorneys who represented her at trial will not be involved in the proceedings.
Kouri filed a notice of appeal with the Utah Supreme Court on May 26, two weeks after her sentencing hearing, according to court documents. The Supreme Court acknowledged the notice and informed Kouri’s attorneys of its intent to transfer the case to the Utah Court of Appeals, the state’s lower appellate court that usually handles the first round of an appeals process.
Kouri was convicted of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, forgery and two counts of insurance fraud. Her appellate case will not focus on the crime or any evidence presented at trial, but on potential procedural errors and whether the trial was conducted correctly, as is typical in appellate cases.
The seven Court of Appeals judges could overturn Kouri’s conviction if they determine her Constitutional rights were violated or the Third District Court failed to manage the proceedings properly.
Summit County is financially responsible for the prosecution and the defense costs since Kouri was assigned a public defender in 2024.
County officials previously hoped to join the state’s Aggravated Murder Defense Fund to cover the costs of Kouri’s anticipated appeal. The program provides financial assistance to counties with aggravated murder cases.
Aggravated murder cases tend to be more expensive, involve more experts and take more time than a typical murder charge or other felonies. Aggravated murder charges also open the door for the death penalty, although prosecutors decided against pursuing the death penalty in Kouri’s case.
However, Summit County Manager Janna Young said the state rejected the county’s proposal to join the fund. She said the committee determined the fund is intended for “future cases,” not ongoing cases, and that the organization did not agree with the county’s argument that the appeal should be considered separate from the initial trial.
Young said she does not have an estimate of how much the appeal will cost, but the county has already spent $1.3 million on Kouri’s defense.
The future of Kouri’s legal representation is uncertain, too.
Kouri’s defense attorneys — Kathy Nester, Wendy Lewis and Alexander Ramos — filed the notice of appeal in late May, but they filed a motion in Third District Court last week to withdraw from a second criminal case involving Kouri.
The second case, which is separate from the aggravated murder charges, focuses on alleged financial crimes Kouri committed while flipping houses before Eric’s death: five counts of mortgage fraud, five counts of forgery, seven counts of issuing a bad check, seven counts of money laundering, one count of communications fraud and one count of a pattern of unlawful activity.
The three attorneys in their motion said Summit County does not have a contract with their firms in place authorizing them to represent Kouri or receive payment, adding that Kouri’s “interests would be best served” by appointing a different public defender in that case.
Young said the contract with Nester, Lewis and Ramos “has only ever covered the aggravated murder case,” which is why they withdrew from the proceedings involving financial crimes.
Kouri will need different representation for the remainder of her appeals process as well. Young said only “specific, rostered attorneys are qualified to take on appeals” under state law, so the county will need to appoint someone from that list.
Young said no one has been chosen to fill the role yet, but the county is actively working through the process to assign Kouri new attorneys in her financial crimes case and for her appeal.
Nester, Lewis and Ramos have not responded to a request for comment as of Wednesday afternoon.