{"id":3150,"date":"2026-07-02T16:40:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3150"},"modified":"2026-07-02T16:40:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:40:01","slug":"convicted-murderer-kouri-richins-seeks-a-new-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3150","title":{"rendered":"Convicted murderer Kouri Richins seeks a new trial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother and former real estate agent convicted of killing her husband, wants a new trial.<\/p>\n

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Her request comes after she was sentenced in May to life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

Richins, 36, on Tuesday, filed a motion in Summit County\u2019s 3rd District Court requesting a new trial \u201cdue to irregularities in the trial proceedings and cumulative error.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Richins\u2019 convictions should be vacated and a new trial granted for the following reasons: (I) the court\u2019s clear demonstration of bias in favor of the state, displayed before the jury, deprived Ms. Richins of a fair trial; (II) the state\u2019s 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\u2019s pretrial rulings, violated (court rules) and resulted in substantial, undue prejudice denying Ms. Richins a fair trial; and (III) cumulative error,\u201d defense attorneys wrote in their motion.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s book about dealing with grief. She was sentenced in May to life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

In her new motion, Richins\u2019 attorneys contend that they were \u201crepeatedly interrupted\u201d throughout the trial and that the judge \u201ccorrected counsel\u201d in ways that made it appear her attorneys were mishandling witnesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis misconduct created an appearance of bias against Ms. Richins and in favor of the prosecution, depriving Ms. Richins of a fair trial,\u201d the motion states. \u201cThe court was often impatient, critical and hostile toward the defense and only the defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, based on the court\u2019s 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\u2019s repeated prejudicial conduct toward the defense in this case, the defendant did not receive a fair trial by a neutral arbiter of justice,\u201d the motion continues.<\/p>\n

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Richins\u2019 attorneys further contend that prosecutors being allowed to submit Richins\u2019 alleged “financial misdeeds” over a period of several years \u2014 including testimony regarding alleged \u201cbounced checks, false bank statements, misleading communications with lenders, mismanagement of business affairs, sloppy accounting (and) improper tax accounting\u201d \u2014 violated the court\u2019s pretrial rulings.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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\u2019s financial crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike 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,\u201d her motion states.<\/p>\n

Richins\u2019 attorneys are now calling on a new evidentiary hearing \u201cto present evidence and argument in support of Richins\u2019 request for a motion for new trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday afternoon, 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik, who presided over Richins\u2019 murder trial, recused himself from her case \u201cout of an abundance of caution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the apparent objective bias discussed, the actual conflict of interest created by allegations of the court\u2019s bias, and the need to ensure due process, disqualification from ruling on this motion is warranted,\u201d Mrazik wrote in his court filing. \u201cThe court shall take no further action in this case until the motion is decided.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kouri Richins, convicted of killing her husband in 2022, says the court was biased in favor of the state and is requesting a new trial. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utah"],"yoast_head":"\nConvicted murderer Kouri Richins seeks a new trial - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3150\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Convicted murderer Kouri Richins seeks a new trial - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kouri Richins, convicted of killing her husband in 2022, says the court was biased in favor of the state and is requesting a new trial.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3150\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T16:40:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3150#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3150\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"headline\":\"Convicted murderer Kouri Richins seeks a new trial\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T16:40:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3150\"},\"wordCount\":689,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3150#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bd59792a908a6d4d99b114a9b74418b1.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Utah\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3150#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3150\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=3150\",\"name\":\"Convicted murderer Kouri Richins seeks a new trial - 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