Kouri Richins makes final court appearance days before preliminary hearing begins

SUMMIT CO., Utah ( ABC4 ) — Kouri Richins appeared virtually in court on Wednesday, allowing for attorneys and the court to clear up some housekeeping items before the case moves forward to next week’s preliminary hearing.

Richins is scheduled to appear in a multi-day preliminary hearing starting Monday morning, Aug. 26. She faces a first-degree felony aggravated murder charge and attempted criminal homicide among other charges of drug distribution, fraud, and forgery in connection to the death of her husband, Eric Richins.

During Wednesday’s status hearing, it was revealed prosecutors intend to call four or five witnesses throughout the preliminary hearing. The defense meanwhile plans to call one or two witnesses.

The main concern presented by Judge Richard Mrazik surrounded out-of-court statements provided by two witnesses who may be called to the stand during the hearing. The two witnesses reportedly provided statements about conversations with Eric just months before his death when he first claimed Kouri was attempting to poison him.

Kouri’s new defense attorneys, Kathy Nester and Wendy Lewis, objected to various parts of the statements, claiming they were not reliable hearsay and should not be admissible.

Judge Mrazik overruled the defense’s objections for the sole purpose of the upcoming preliminary hearing. Mrazik, however, agreed with the defense that they reserve the right to object to the statements outside of the preliminary hearing.

Nester then requested Richins to appear in the courtroom without being in handcuffs as she has in previous hearings. In her request, Nester said “We, as a defense team, do not feel any threat. We feel very safe sitting next to her.” She also said the bindings would make it difficult for Richins to take notes during the hearing and would be a distraction for the defense team.

Mrazik did not offer a ruling on whether or not Richins would be free of handcuffs during the multi-day preliminary hearing. He first wanted to consider the request with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office before making a decision.

It has been more than a year since Richins was initially arrested and charged with the murder of her husband. Legal hold ups including controversy over the now-infamous “Walk the Dog” letter as well as a change in attorneys for Richins have prevented the case from going to a preliminary hearing thus far.

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