KAMAS, Utah (ABC4) The location of the trial for Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother accused of using a lethal dose of fentanyl to kill her husband before writing a children’s book on grief, has yet to be determined after the court denied the defense’s motion to move the trial to Salt Lake County.

The decision comes after Judge Richard Mrazik denied a motion from the defense to move the trial to Salt Lake County, instead of Summit County where the alleged crime happened.

Mrazik, along with attorneys for both the defense and the prosecution, spent Monday morning reviewing answers to a questionnaire that evaluated potential jurors in both counties. The results helped determine whether or not there is a potential bias within the jury pool due to the media coverage of the case and what percentage of the population in each county closely followed the case.

“There’s not a perfect answer here. There’s not a perfect jury pool, but that’s true no matter what in any case,” argued Wendy Lewis, an attorney representing Richins. “We’re not looking for a perfect jury pool. We’re looking for a jury pool where [Kouri Richins] has a chance of having a fair trial and in this county, there’s a reasonable chance that she’s not going to get that.”

Brad Bloodworth, who argued for the State of Utah, admitted that there may be an imbalance in media coverage surrounding the case. However, he argued that through jury selection, the court would still be able to find a fair and impartial jury in Summit County, despite a smaller population and a reported higher investment into the case.

In his ruling, Judge Mrazik agreed with the defense that media coverage of the case has been extreme, perverse, and adverse for Richins. He said the coverage has been incomplete and misleading but ultimately determined that due to the diverse population and size of Summit County, it would not be impossible to find a fair and impartial jury.

With his decision, however, Mrazik said it is still possible for the court to pull jurors from Salt Lake County into Summit County for the trial. The decision on where the jury pool would come from will be decided at a later time as the defense filed a motion to appeal the ruling.

While the appeal moves through the courts, Richins’ attorneys also moved to continue the trial to a different date and postpone pretrial hearings. Richins has been awaiting trial since her arrest in May 2023. She was tentatively scheduled for a four-week trial starting on April 28.