Summit County prosecutors will remain on the Kouri Richins case after her previous defense team tried to remove the County Attorney’s Office.

Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik this week dismissed the motion to disqualify prosecutors saying there is not any credible evidence to suggest local attorneys and jail staff violated the Kamas mother of three’s rights.

“Disqualification of any attorney is not necessary to maintain the fairness of these adversary proceedings,” Mrazik ruled, adding the motion was made without a credible basis.

Kouri appeared in court Thursday afternoon wearing a gray blazer and black long-sleeve shirt with her hair down. She only spoke briefly to address the judge. Wendy Lewis, one of Kouri’s new defense attorneys, was seated beside her. 

Lewis agreed with Mrazik that the County Attorney’s Office did not intentionally or purposefully intrude upon the attorney-client relationship between Kouri and her former attorney, Skye Lazaro, and the Ray Quinney & Nebeker law firm.

Lazaro filed a motion to disqualify the prosecution in May just before she withdrew from the case, citing concerns about the fairness of the case. She accused the County Attorney’s Office, specifically Chief Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth, of listening to attorney-client jail calls as well as intimidation and interrogation. The judge was asked to either remove Bloodworth from the case or disqualify the entire prosecutorial team.

County Attorney Margaret Olson vehemently denied the accusations. Bloodworth and other staff briefly accessed a few recordings but stopped listening once they realized who was speaking. The issue was raised last fall and seemed resolved until the motion was filed.

Olson submitted a joint filing with the new defense team at Nester Lewis to address the issue and clarify it on the record. She accused Lazaro of concocting a conspiracy theory and “poisonous breadcrumb strategy” by putting appellant issues in a criminal case. The objective is to give the accused another opportunity for a trial if they’re convicted — creating a flawed proceeding.

“It is wrong for a lawyer to intentionally throw a wrench into the wheels of the system of justice,” Olson said in court. She affirmed she has a sworn duty to protect the rights of the accused as well as provide a fundamentally fair process.

Lewis said there’s no evidence the state listened to any privileged information during the calls and the recordings were handed over to a taint team, which removed them from the system. She did not comment on allegations Lazaro made about an argument between jail staff, prosecutors and the defense attorneys in March because she was not there. 

Mrazik said there’s no legal issue with Sheriff’s Office employees “scanning” materials for contraband or other safety concerns. He appeared to believe the staff did their job.

Olson proposed a robust form of order, arguing the judge must thoroughly address the motion because the accusation of prosecutorial misconduct “is the equivalent of an undetonated grenade,” and she wants to protect the record.

However, Mrazik did not fully agree. While he said he understands why the County Attorney’s Office is upset, there is no evidence of the violations so additional elements proposed by Olson aren’t necessary. He was hesitant to go down certain paths because the main concerns were already addressed in his ruling.

The judge affirmed an independent review of the record found no evidence that Bloodworth or any other agent of the County Attorney’s Office intentionally violated attorney-client privilege nor did they direct jail staff about how to interact with Kouri.

Kouri is set to appear in court again from Aug. 26 to 28 for a preliminary hearing. Mrazik will decide whether there’s enough evidence for her to stand trial for the murder of her husband, Eric Richins.

The 34 year old has been held without bail since her arrest in May 2023. She faces 11 felonies including aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide, distribution of a controlled substance, forgery, mortgage fraud and false insurance claims.

Eric died of a fentanyl overdose in March 2022. Prosecutors allege Kouri poisoned him with a Moscow Mule cocktail laced with fentanyl, and that she attempted to do it a month earlier with a drug-laced sandwich on Valentine’s Day. The County Attorney’s Office says Kouri felt trapped in her marriage and had a financial motive to kill her husband.

Kouri and her family have maintained her innocence. She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. The case is not up for capital punishment.