Kouri Richins’ trial could become the first case in the state to pull prospective jurors from two counties — if the state’s highest court agrees with Summit County prosecutors and her defense attorneys. The Utah Supreme Court announced on Jan. 6 that it would make a ruling on whether prospective jurors would be drawn from Salt Lake County and if voir dire can be conducted in person rather than online. A date for the expedited briefing has not been announced. The appellant group representing the Summit County Attorney’s Office and defense asked for a decision to be made by February.Lawyers for the two sides filed a joint petition last month asking the court to overturn a ruling made by Third District Court Presiding Judge Laura Scott, who said they failed to show there are “extraordinary circumstances” in the case that would allow for special rules.Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik approved the request to hold jury selection in person and was willing to expand the pool beyond Summit County residents. However, he said he was unfamiliar with any other cases in Utah that have pulled jurors from two counties. Scott overruled him. Defense attorneys Wendy Lewis and Kathy Nester argued for the need to diversify the prospective jury pool. The County Attorney’s Office agreed. Mrazik also supported the appeal, but said the two sides “may be swimming upstream on that one.”“Because of the challenging [sic] of clearing a court calendar for four weeks, and because Kouri has been incarcerated for 18 months, the parties do not want to move the trial,” a joint motion for expedited review stated. “However, the parties are concerned about their ability to empanel an impartial jury in a timely manner now that they are now allowed to hold in-person voir dire or to expand the venire to Salt Lake County.”The Utah Supreme Court ruling will determine how jury selection is conducted and if it will be expanded to Salt Lake County.Defense attorneys also filed motions within the Third District Court earlier this month seeking to exclude evidence from the murder trial, set to last four weeks starting in April.Kouri’s legal counsel asked Mrazik to suppress the six-page “Walk the Dog” letter, which was found within a manila envelope in the Kamas mother of three’s Summit County Jail cell. Prosecutors previously argued the other material inside could be relevant after the discovery of the “Walk the Dog” letter, which they said was a request from Kouri to her mother to ask her brother to provide false testimony. Kouri’s defense claims the writing was an excerpt from a fictional mystery book she’s authoring about drugs and a Mexican prison.Mrazik ruled in February Kouri can keep the 33-page manuscript from prosecutors, but that she must turn over a letter written to her from another inmate. The latest motion would determine whether the six-page “Walk the Dog” letter is considered privileged.Lewis and Nester also want Mrazik to suppress all electronic data obtained from Kouri’s cell phone, arguing the search warrants were “improperly issued” and “overly broad.” A third motion requested statements and other physical evidence from before Kouri’s arrest be limited from trial.A pre-trial hearing was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 23 to determine what’s admissible in court.Kouri faces nine felony charges stemming from the death of her husband, Eric Richins, including aggravated murder and attempted criminal homicide. 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 said Kouri felt trapped in her marriage and had a financial motive to kill her husband.Kouri Richins and her family have maintained her innocence.The post Kouri Richins jury selection to be decided by Utah Supreme Court appeared first on Park Record.