The case against a Utah children’s grief book author charged with poisoning her husband with fentanyl will move to a preliminary hearing after a judge last week dismissed her attorney’s attempt to disqualify the prosecution.

According to KTVX, Kouri Richins’ attorney filed a motion alleging that jail staff and a prosecutor had accessed phone calls between the defendant and her attorney. But Judge Richard Mrazik ruled there was no “credible evidence” of an intentional intrusion into attorney-client privilege after learning that staff and the prosecuting attorney turned off the recordings the moment they realized Richins was speaking with her attorney.

The defense did not object to Mrazik’s conclusion at a hearing last week.

Richins is charged with poisoning Eric Richins by mixing drugs into a drink she made for him in 2022, as CrimeOnline reported. After her husband’s death she self-published “Are You With Me?,” a children’s book about coping with grief after the death of a loved one.

In last week’s hearing, State Prosecutor Margaret Olson accused Richins’ defense of “intentionally [throwing] a wrench into the gears of the system of justice … to intentionally procure a fundamentally flawed proceedings,” according to KTVX.

But Mrazik disagreed, saying “let’s just stay focused on what was in the motion and what evidence there is, if any,” ultimately ruling there was none.

“I can understand why your office is really pissed with the content of that motion, but [the evidence] is not enough to form a sixth amendment violation,” Mrazik said.

Richins, who was arrested in May 2023 and charged with aggravated murder and three counts of possession with intent to distrubute, now faces a preliminary hearing on August 26.

For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.

[Featured image: Kouri and Eric Richins/Facebook]