LIVE UPDATES | Day 11 of Kouri Richins murder trial
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Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three boys, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in 2022. She is on trial in Summit County, Utah, on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, insurance fraud and forgery.
Today is the 11th day of the trial. It is scheduled to begin today at 8:30 a.m. East Idaho News will be posting live written updates all day. Please excuse typos. You can watch the livestream here. The most recent updates are at the top of this page.
10:03 a.m. The prosecution wants to bring in statements made by Carmen Lauber to O’Driscoll in a police interview. Defense adamantly objects and says that it should have been taken care of when Carmen was on the stand, as they would not be able to cross-examine the statements. Judge says Lauber could be recalled by the defense for questioning. Lewis says the statements should not be brought in through O’Driscoll’s testimony.
9:49 a.m. Judge and prosecution now discussing statements made by Carmen Lauber. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis objects to having any interview transcripts with Carmen Lauber and Det. O’Driscoll brought into the trial.
9:40 a.m. The “Walk the Dog” letter is now being discussed. I recorded a video about the letter here. Bloodworth says he can envision a scenario where the defense says the six-page letter was part of a fictional 65-page manuscript and the context is within the volume of a book. “That is untrue and we can prove that by proving how it was recovered,” Bloodworth says. Bloodworth wants to show O’Driscoll a copy of the letter and proposes his exact wording of how he would introduce it.
9:39 a.m. Judge and Nester go back and forth. Nester objects to all the jail calls and wants judge to give special instructions to the jury. Judge says he will.
9:19 a.m. Defense and prosecutors debate over what jailhouse calls and text messages should be admitted into the trial including a message that says “she thought she would be set for life if he died.” Defense objects to that message, but judge is allowing it in.
9:07 a.m. Discussion over interview redactions is completed. Judge will now discuss jailhouse interviews with the defense and prosecution. Bloodworth says the interviews will be introduced into the trial through Det. O’Driscoll.
9:01 a.m. More discussion over redactions and if portions of the interview should be allowed in.
8:44 a.m. Another part of the interview will be unredacted, judge rules following request from defense. Attorneys and judge discuss other portions of the interview – what should be redacted, what should remain.
8:40 a.m. Judge agrees with the state and says the information from the interview can come out during the trial. The interview will not be admitted.
8:35 a.m. Judge Richard Mrazik is on the bench. Public and media are filing into the courtroom. First issue to be discussed deals with Detective Jeff O’Driscoll, who is expected to testify today. Defense attorney Kathryn Nester references a transcript of an interview O’Driscoll did with Kouri Richins and seeks to have several redacted pages admitted into evidence. Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth says the interview context can be drawn out through questioning during the trial. Bloodworth says the interview was peppered with Kouri’s “self-serving statements” and does not want these portion of the interview in.
8:31 a.m. It’s day 11 of Kouri Richins’ murder trial. The prosecution is expected to rest today or tomorrow. The attorneys and judge have issues to discuss before the jury is set to arrive at 9:30 a.m.