SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — After nearly 18 months behind bars, and with her trial not scheduled until Spring 2025, Kouri Richins has filed a new appeal asking for her bail conditions to be reconsidered so that she can be released from jail.
Richins has been in the Summit County jail since her May 2023 arrest for allegedly murdering her husband by poisoning him with a fatal amount of fentanyl. The arrest came just after Richins had written a book on how to help children deal with grief.
As Richins was possibly facing the death penalty, Judge Richard Mrazik originally ordered her to be held without bail in a June 2023 hearing. However, months later, the state announced they would not seek that punishment.
In the appeal filed Tuesday, Richins' attorneys referenced that she was no longer facing the death penalty, as well as her good behavior while in jail.
"[Richins] has appeared repeatedly before this Court without restraints and has acted at all times respectfully and courteously," the appeal read. "The Court can now take that pattern of positive behavior into consideration in determining whether conditions can be set that insure the safety of the community."
Richins' defense team also argued that at the time of the June 2023 hearing, their client was supposed to go to trial soon after. With the trial now delayed until 2025, she will have served nearly two full years behind bars by the time it begins.
"These lengthy delays were not known to the court at the time that detention was originally ordered and can justify pretrial release with conditions," the attorneys wrote.
Judge Mrazik was also asked to consider that her relationship with her sons is being "irreparably damaged" by keeping her in jail.
It's not known when the court will rule on the new appeal.
