Third District Judge Richard Mrazik will continue to oversee Kouri Darden Richins’ murder case — and determine whether she should receive a second trial — despite her efforts to disqualify him from the proceedings. Darden Richins, the Kamas mother of three convicted of killing her husband, Eric Richins, claimed Mrazik had deprived her of a fair trial because he displayed signs of bias favoring prosecutors. She submitted a motion for a new trial late last month along with a motion requesting Mrazik be removed from her case. Third District Judge Kara Pettit, who has not been involved in Darden Richins’ case, reviewed the motions to decide whether Mrazik’s actions warranted disqualification. Specifically, Darden Richins accused Mrazik of repeatedly interrupting her attorneys, correcting her attorneys in ways that suggested they were mishandling the case in front of jurors and overall exhibiting behaviors “impatient, critical and hostile toward the defense and only the defense.” However, Pettit noted multiple procedural issues with Darden Richins’ motion, including the lack of an affidavit or declaration “stating facts sufficient to show bias or prejudice or conflict of interest,” which state law requires when petitioning for the disqualification of a judge. State law also mandates defendants file disqualification requests no later than 21 days after the event spurring the motion. For Darden Richins, the event in question would have been the last day of her trial on March 16, meaning the motion submitted in June was not compliant with the court’s deadlines. But Pettit said Darden Richins failed to demonstrate Mrazik’s perceived bias, even if she had followed protocol. Pettit wrote in her decision that state law supports the disqualification of a judge if the individual has a “personal bias or prejudice.” However, she said those disqualifications typically involve a familial relationship with someone in the courtroom, a “close social or professional relationship,” involvement in the case before becoming a judge or a financial interest that could be affected by the proceedings. “In other words, the bias or prejudice must usually stem from an extrajudicial source, not from occurrences in the proceedings before the judge,” Pettit said. “The court finds the video excerpts … and the trial transcript … do not demonstrate the level of extreme behavior or conduct reflecting a deep-seated antagonism toward defense, nor favoritism toward the prosecution, to warrant disqualification.” She added that Darden Richins did not have grounds to disqualify Mrazik even if his “conduct could be considered as showing anger or frustration with defense counsel.” “The court finds and concludes Judge Mrazik’s alleged conduct falls well short of ‘revealing such a high degree of favoritism or antagonism as to make fair judgment impossible,’” the court order said. Pettit denied the motion to disqualify Mrazik, meaning he will be responsible for determining whether Darden Richins receives a second aggravated murder trial. Prosecutors have until Sept. 4 to respond to the motion for a new trial, and a decision isn’t expected until late September or October. The post Kouri Richins denied new judge in efforts to obtain second murder trial appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less