Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother and former real estate agent convicted of killing her husband, wants a new trial.
Her request comes after she was sentenced in May to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Richins, 36, on Tuesday, filed a motion in Summit County’s 3rd District Court requesting a new trial “due to irregularities in the trial proceedings and cumulative error.
“Ms. Richins’ convictions should be vacated and a new trial granted for the following reasons: (I) the court’s clear demonstration of bias in favor of the state, displayed before the jury, deprived Ms. Richins of a fair trial; (II) the state’s repeated reliance on other crimes, wrongs or bad acts and the admission of evidence proving Ms. Richins committed wide-ranging financial crimes over numerous years in several general categories went far beyond the court’s pretrial rulings, violated (court rules) and resulted in substantial, undue prejudice denying Ms. Richins a fair trial; and (III) cumulative error,” defense attorneys wrote in their motion.
Richins was convicted in March of killing her husband, Eric Richins, on March 4, 2022. She was not arrested, however, until over a year after his death. During that time she hired a ghostwriter to help her publish a children’s book about dealing with grief. She was sentenced in May to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In her new motion, Richins’ attorneys contend that they were “repeatedly interrupted” throughout the trial and that the judge “corrected counsel” in ways that made it appear her attorneys were mishandling witnesses.
“This misconduct created an appearance of bias against Ms. Richins and in favor of the prosecution, depriving Ms. Richins of a fair trial,” the motion states. “The court was often impatient, critical and hostile toward the defense and only the defense.
“Overall, based on the court’s conduct, it often appeared that the defendant was not facing a single adversary but rather had to bear the consequence of a judge who at times acted as a second adversary and who appeared to disbelieve either defense counsel or a defense witness. As a result of the court’s repeated prejudicial conduct toward the defense in this case, the defendant did not receive a fair trial by a neutral arbiter of justice,” the motion continues.
Richins’ attorneys further contend that prosecutors being allowed to submit Richins’ alleged "financial misdeeds" over a period of several years — including testimony regarding alleged “bounced checks, false bank statements, misleading communications with lenders, mismanagement of business affairs, sloppy accounting (and) improper tax accounting” — violated the court’s pretrial rulings.
The defense claims her case is similar to that of Alex Murdaugh, a prominent South Carolina attorney who was convicted of murdering his wife and adult son. Murdaugh’s convictions were tossed out by the South Carolina Supreme Court in May, however, due in part to the trial judge allowing prosecutors to introduce vast amounts of evidence regarding Mudaugh’s financial crimes.
“Like the Murdaugh case, Ms. Richins was denied a fair trial due to the undue prejudice of financial wrongdoings permeating her trial. The only appropriate remedy is a new trial,” her motion states.
Richins’ attorneys are now calling on a new evidentiary hearing “to present evidence and argument in support of Richins’ request for a motion for new trial.”
Wednesday afternoon, 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik, who presided over Richins’ murder trial, recused himself from her case “out of an abundance of caution.”
“Given the apparent objective bias discussed, the actual conflict of interest created by allegations of the court’s bias, and the need to ensure due process, disqualification from ruling on this motion is warranted,” Mrazik wrote in his court filing. “The court shall take no further action in this case until the motion is decided.”