Utah Supreme Court rejects motions in Kouri Richins murder trial

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah Supreme Court struck down two appeals filed by state prosecutors and defense attorneys, challenging jury selection and the jury pool in the murder trial for Kouri Richins.

The trial for Richins, the Kamas mother accused of using a lethal dose of fentanyl to kill her husband before writing a children’s book on grief, was previously scheduled to take place beginning next week on April 28. However, the trial was continued, and all pretrial hearings were postponed as the appeals were heard by the Utah Supreme Court.

On Thursday, April 24, the Utah Supreme Court unanimously rejected the requests from the state and defense attorneys, ruling that the jury pool would be limited to Summit County and selection could be done virtually.

Attorneys for both the state and defense had argued to expand the jury pool to include Salt Lake County, arguing the prolific nature of the case would make it difficult to find a fair and impartial jury in Summit County alone. They further argued that because of the extensive media coverage of the trial, there were “extraordinary circumstances” that would allow for an in-person only questioning of prospective jurors.

In their arguments, the attorneys said both Trial Judge Richard Mrazik and Presiding Judge Laura Scott abused their discretion when denying their original requests. The Justices of the Utah Supreme Court, however, disagreed.

For the request to expand the jury pool to include Salt Lake County, the Justices ruled that the judges correctly determined there were no extraordinary circumstances to expand the pool. They also struck down the attorneys’ claim that, because Utah law allows for a criminal defendant to be tried by jurors from a county other than the one where the trial is being held, prospective jurors from multiple counties could be summoned.

“We disagree,” determined the Utah Supreme Court. “Importantly, there is a difference between summoning jurors from a county other than the one in which the trial will be held and summoning jurors from two counties for one trial.”

Finally, the Utah Supreme Court said Presiding Judge Scott had provided multiple reasons why the extensive media coverage would not present extraordinary circumstances that would impact jury selection.

The ruled, “[The attorneys] have not demonstrated that the Presiding Judge’s decision is one that no reasonable person would adopt. The Presiding Judge did not abuse her discretion, and we affirm her order.”

A new trial date for Richins, who has been held in custody since her arrest in May 2023, has not been set as of noon on Thursday, April 24.

The full opinion from the Utah Supreme Court can be found below: