Richins defense seeks sentencing delay in Summit County murder case

A new filing could push Kouri Richins’ sentencing back by about five weeks, delaying the final step in a case that has already gripped Summit County for months. Her lawyers are asking Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik to move the hearing from May 13 to the week of June 15, a change the Summit County Attorney’s Office opposed.

The date matters because May 13 would have been Eric Richins’ 44th birthday. If the defense gets its way, the court would wait until mid-June to decide punishment in a case that has already moved from arrest to verdict to sentencing in a long, closely watched timeline. Richins was arrested in May 2023, convicted in March 2026 after about three hours of jury deliberation, and tried at the Summit County Courthouse in Park City during February and March.

The conviction covered aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, two counts of insurance fraud and forgery. Richins now faces either 25 years to life in prison or life without the possibility of parole. That means the sentencing hearing is not a formality. It is the point at which Mrazik will formally set the sentence and decide whether Richins receives the harshest available punishment.

Defense lawyers said they need more time to prepare mitigation evidence and witnesses for sentencing, material that can shape how a judge weighs punishment even after a guilty verdict. Prosecutors, who have already secured convictions from the eight-person jury, are expected to argue against any delay and press for a prompt end to the case. The county attorney’s office has already objected to changing the date.

The case has carried unusually heavy public attention because of where it played out and what it involved. Eric Richins died on March 4, 2022. Prosecutors said Kouri Richins poisoned him with fentanyl, and the trial drew intense scrutiny in Park City and beyond. For Summit County, the sentencing decision now controls more than the calendar. It will determine when the case reaches its final chapter, whether that chapter opens on a date tied to the victim’s birthday, and how long the legal fallout continues to stretch across the county courthouse.