SALT LAKE CITY — A prominent Utah defense attorney says the guilty verdict in Kouri Richins' murder trial was not surprising given the weight of the charges, but said the defense team's decision not to call any witnesses will face scrutiny.
Adam Crayk, who is a defense attorney but not connected to the trial, said the charges themselves made a not-guilty outcome difficult to achieve.
"The problem is when it says aggravated murder, when it says attempted aggravated murder, forgery, that's such a heavy burden to overcome," Crayk said.
WATCH: Eric Richins' family reacts after Kouri Richins found guilty on all charges
Crayk said he was not caught off guard by the jury's decision.
"It's just really hard. So, was I surprised? No, no," Crayk said.
When asked about the defense's strategy of resting without calling any witnesses, Crayk said the team appeared confident in their position — but acknowledged the unpredictability of juries.
"Why did they not do that [call any witnesses]? What was going on?," Crayk said. "I can just say that I think that they felt very confident. And that's the other thing is with juries, you just don't ever know. You present everything. You go down the line showing what you think you've presented, why you think the state has failed in their burden."
Crayk said the defense will inevitably face criticism for that call.
"You just don't ever really know, and it's hard. Do they get second-guessed? Absolutely. Will this be second-guessed? 100 percent," Crayk said.
When asked whether Richins could have grounds for an inadequate defense counsel claim, Crayk explained the appellate process and said it is a real possibility.
"One of the things that the state does is they give her the opportunity to appeal, and if she cannot afford the appeal, the state will assign an appellate attorney on a conflict basis," he explained. "That attorney will then look through the record. He'll look at the judge's rulings. He'll look at what the state did. He'll look at what her defense attorneys did. And if he believes or she believes, whoever it may be, that under the Sixth Amendment, ineffective assistance of counsel has been committed, that will be one of the grounds for appeal, and one of those arguments could theoretically be a case in chief was not presented, or a full defense was not presented, on her behalf. That could very well happen."
On top of Monday's guilty verdict, Richins has two more trials ahead — one dealing with charges of financial crimes and the other over her late husband's estate.
