Judge Hears 'Bad Character' Evidence Argument Over Kouri Richins' Financial Records

Описание: A key prosecution witness against Kouri Richins is testifying about financial records today, including misrepresentations prosecutors say she made to get loans.

What the jury doesn't know is attorneys and the judge have been discussing the scope of forensic accountant Brooke Karrington's testimony and how to instruct jurors regarding evidence rule 404B, which prohibits using evidence of prior crimes, wrongs, or acts to prove a person's character or propensity to commit a crime.

00:27 "There's definitely things she's going to testify to that we agree are appropriate for this trial, and there's a whole bunch of things she's going to testify to that we don't think belong in this trial."

01:51 Judge Richard Mrazik: "I need to give the the jury a contemporaneous instruction, though. Rather than do it every 15-20 minutes, I thought it might be better just to do it up front at some point. And it's how to do that in a way that's fair to both sides that I'm asking about."

02:19 Nester: "It would if there's just a blanket instruction, they're not going to know which parts of her testimony that relates to."

06:31 More discussion about details of tstimony
Judge: "Forgive me, Ms. Nester, the Barney house, among other things, went into foreclosure, correct? After Ms. Richins was arrested?"
"Yes, that's correct."

08:47 "So I guess I'm just alerting everybody that this was one of the issues in my motion in limine. This was one of the issues the court said you probably have to hear foundation for at trial."
"No, I ruled on this one specifically, but that's fine. We can raise it again..."

11:25 Chief Criminal Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth: "The other issue that may arise is there was an email from that hard money lender questioning Ms. Richins about her credit score in comparison to the available cash in in her in the purported bank statement, and then in response, Kouri Richins provides an explanation of her credit score. That is relevant because, well, the inquiry is relevant because the lender had noticed a disconnect between her balance and her credit score."

12:25 Prosecutor: "Okay, so Ms. Nester, I think it would be appropriate to give the jury a 404 B instruction to the following effect:

You are about to hear evidence that defendant, defendant's representations to her lenders were not accurate before the acts charged in this case.

This evidence is not admitted to prove a character trait of the defendant or to show that she acted in a manner consistent with that trait.

You may consider this evidence, if at all, for the limited purpose of determining a non character issue, such as motive. Keep in mind that the defendant is on trial for the crimes charged in this case only you may not convict the defendant simply because you believe she may have committed some other acts at some other time."

15:00 Bloodworth: "There is an email between Kouri Richins and Ms. Barney where, you know, Kouri Richins explains, Ms. Barney indicates her understanding that this money is a down payment. We will get to that email with Ms. Barney, but as it relates to Ms. Karrington, the state will ask, what is, what was your understanding of the purpose of this?"

Background:

Kouri Richins, 35, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl at their home in Kamas, Utah, in March 2022. After he died, she self-published a children's book she authored titled "Are You With Me?" about coping with grief.

Eric Richins, 39, was found dead in their home on March 4, 2022.

Prosecutors allege Kouri dropped a lethal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow Mule cocktail she prepared for him. They say she was motivated by money because she owed nearly $5 million to lenders and had changed her husband's life insurance policies prior to his death while also taking out a home equity line of credit without his knowledge. She also was in a romantic relationship with another man.

You can watch the prosecution's opening statement here    • Greed & Lust Drove Kouri Richins To Poison...   and the defense opening statement here:    • Defense Says Kouri Richins' Husband Overdo...  

Prosecutors allege she previously tried to murder him by poisoning his sandwich on Valentine's Day 2022, which her husband told a friend about.

Richins' criminal charges in Summit County, Utah, include aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, forgery and insurance fraud.

Her trial is scheduled to last five weeks. Judge Richard Mrazik in Utah's 3rd District Court is presiding at the Silver Summit Justice Center near Park City.

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