Hey, the folks, it is Thursday, March twelfth, and we just got a major update and maybe even a major shocker in the Corey Richins murder trial aka the Grief author murder trial aka the poisoned husband murder trial. The major update, the prosecution has rested, and ten seconds after that, the defense rested without calling a single witness, and with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Rowe didn't see this one coming.
We did not see this one coming. In fact, as early as this morning, the defense suggested that they had witnesses to call. Specifically, they indicated they had three witnesses that they were going to be calling to the stand, So everyone was expecting them to actually put on a defense. Of course, they don't have to.
It is the burden, the burden of proof is on.
The prosecution, and we've certainly seen this in other trials. Diddy's trial probably comes to mind as one of the more recent and big trials where we saw this happen. But we were actually just thinking we were going to hear whether or not Corey Richins herself was going to testify, not that no one was going to testify.
No and Robes, we had very good reason based on, yes, watching this entire trial, but we had very good reason to think this case was going to go on based on what happened today in court. The lawyers have been lawyering and arguing over a particular legal issue for the past several days, and today they got in court going back and forth over getting some particular piece of evidence in. So the jury didn't even hear testimony today. They were
arguing in code outside of the jury road. So the defense was fighting, fighting to almost begging the judge for certain things to come in because they were getting ready to put on their case. The judge even shocked when they said we rest.
Yeah. Everyone was not expecting that, because yes, the defense was fiery. They were trying to get in some way, shape or form, some way of getting testimony in. That indicated this man from twenty nineteen who claimed that he had a conversation with the victim in this cake case, Eric Richards, who asked about fentanyl. And so when the judge basically ultimately, and this was a little surprising, ruled
that they could bring it into testimony. Except for the fact that the prosecution was going to be able to bring in other witnesses to rebuke that and to refute it, and to perhaps even bring other things into evidence that the defense didn't want it. And so basically, after they took an hour break to talk with Corey Richins to decide what they wanted to do, they came back and said defense rests.
No, they did not start the day when they woke up this morning, they did not think they were going to rest their case. Something happened and that if something whatever development today in court, well and all that back and forth and they had to make that call. It was fascinating. It was fascinating to watch this lawyering.
It was so interesting, and the jury saw none of it, wouldn't you say the past several days we have watched back and forth and more lawyering going on behind the scenes without the jury present than we have actually hearing testimony occur in front of the jury.
And even when they are in there hearing testimony, it's constant sidebar. Can we approach, judge? You can't get a good flow almost even through this trial, and I'm sure they have to be frustrated. But now they get to go home and sit on this until Monday. Whoo.
Yes, because here's what happens next Tomorrow, only the defense and the prosecution without the jury are going to meet up with the judge and go over jury instructions. And with the way the back and forth, the fighting that has been going on between the attorneys and with the judge, this probably will be entertaining as all get out, and it usually isn't when you're discussing jury instructions. But I have a feeling they won't agree on almost anything they.
Got the day they got what time already say they're back tomorrow, even gave them some like one o'click.
Not until one pm tomorrow will they be back to go over the jury instructions. And then the schedule will be that Monday at eight thirty am local time, that's Mountain time, there will be closing arguments and the jury will get their case.
They will begin deliberating.
I have imagined what it must be like to be a juror on this case, because, first of all, this is this is a court case that has gripped the nation. But there's been so many stops and starts, and they've been back in this room, sequestered, thinking what the hell is going on in the courtroom?
Without us.
I mean, they have been not in the courtroom for significant chunks of time.
And they have no idea all this we're talking about. They are not allowed to watch coverage. They have no idea about what the arguments have been and why so much evidence we are as the public, are aware of. They will never hear in conversations that I have. This is so interesting, So robes. I imagine as you speak on the jury, the frustration in when the trial is actually
going on, Robes, they've been sitting in there. Look, we watch a lot of trials, not just recently but over the years, roads the constant stop, can we approach judge? Can we approach judge? You can't get two questions in can we approach judge? Objection? That part has been exhausting, and I'm sure the jurors that had to not just to go, hey, send me back to the room a least like to take a bathroom break. We're sitting in here watching it. It's been hard for us to watch.
And they're not supposed to talk amongst themselves either, so they're not even supposed to be guessing what's going on? What do you guys think is happening? I mean, none of that is actually even supposed to be going on. So you're supposed to just sit there quietly, not look up the case, not discuss the case, and somehow occupy yourself. But look, just to remind everyone, this is a trial where Corey Richand's thirty five year old mom of three
is accused of poisoning her husband to death. She's charged with aggravated murder attempted criminal homicide, and that's because prosecutors say she tried to poison her husband with a Valentine's Day sandwich. When that didn't work, she went back got more potent ventanyl pills, and they claim then she laced.
A moscow mule.
And all of this while she had a lover waiting in the wings. She had multimillion dollar real estate deals going on, and she was in debt by multi millions of dollars. And oh, by the way, she authored a children's book about grief in the middle of all of this.
So yeah, you can.
Understand why this has been a case that has gotten the nation's attention.
And the key to this case is where did he get the fentanyl that ended up killing him? And Rose nobody knows is she going to walk out of that courtroom a free woman or maybe facing a mistrial here. But Robes, that's key. Are you going to send this woman to prison for life for fentanyl that we actually do not know how he got it?
That's right.
So we've heard three nearly three full weeks of testimony. We've heard from the former housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, who was pretty much the prosecution's star witness. We've heard from all of the investigators. We've heard from Corey Richan's lover. That was a very emotional part of the trial where we it spoke to motive in part, but we also ended with this leading investigator, Jeff O'Driscoll, and that went on
for what a couple of days. But the prosecution has laid out their case and it is clear, we know that Eric Richards died from fentanyl poisoning. But as you pointed out, and this is the defense's main strategy here, no one can tell the jury how it got in his system. No one can prove how it got into a system, or at least.
Nobody can prove how he got it, how he was in possession of it. Nobody can say he ever took a drug in his entire life. And yet the theory from the defense is just that this man had a secret drug problem. He kept it from everybody in his life, the people he was closest to, nobody knew. She's not saying she knew it either, is she.
She is saying that she knew he like pain pills, and she talked a lot about how he did have his stash of drugs. Didn't get specific that he would put in her suitcases when they traveled, that he needed pain medication.
You remember, they were all with friends and whatnot, and all people saw were the marijuana gummies. That's there is nobody in this man's life who can put a drug outside of a marijuana gummy and a pain pill that was prescribed to him in his hand in his entire life. That says something ropes. But at the same time, their star witness, this Carmen Lawber, who apparently went and bought the drugs for Corey Richmonds, she is just throw just forget her that they eviscerated her and her character and
her testimony. They just ripped this woman.
I wrote, the defense made major inroads in undermining Carmen Lauber's credibility and they certainly did.
Oh could she? They destroyed her to the point I felt bad for the woman.
Yet not only is she a recovering addict, it came out that she violated her parole multiple times, that she the drug court, Yes, the drug court, sorry, yes, violated the drug Court. And also just hearing and we got to watch lead investigators talk to her initially about cooperating with the prosecution, and you can see the sweetheart deal
she got. She was looking at seven years in prison for violating drug court, and all of a sudden they said, but if you help us prosecute Corey Richins, we can make that all go away.
Yeah, but you know it well, when the defense says it one way, it sounds like, oh, that's a big time, And then the prosecution comes back and say it well with context that who knows, these jurors have been paying attention. I'm always shocked at what jurors end up doing, But I would not be shocked if they come back in here and say we are deadlocked. Come back here and say there's a mistrial because Robes, I'm not a circumstantial evidence guy.
I am.
If I was on a jury, I would struggle sending somebody to prison the rest of their lives, and I don't have a smoking gun.
It feels like though most of these trials often are circumstantial, and clearly we have seen prosecutors be successful in trying a case based solely on circumstantial evidence, and there is significant amount of it. Remember those searches on Corey Richmond's phones, don't those searches always tend to do in a defendant how they explained those they didn't.
I didn't explain, And you're right, this adds up. This is one of those things just like in the old pair affair murder truck. Correct, It adds up enough that you have to ask yourself, wait a minute, I'm not stupid. It actually gets to that, and like, oh yeah, wait a minute, because the defense did all they could in this case Robes by just throwing things against the wall, just saying aha, but you know what, he went to Mexico.
Hmm.
You know a lot of fennol comes from Mexico. That was a lot of their case. Does that work against the juror?
I don't know.
They are planting seeds of doubt. The question is does it create reasonable doubt? That's the threshold. I think it's fair to say they have absolutely cast some doubt in the prosecution series, but is it reasonable doubt?
Where I struggle. But like we said, it was a shock today to see that they absolutely switched things up and decided they wanted to rest their case without calling a single witness. Well, we have a pretty good theory as to why stay here we continue here on Amian TJ. This is again not an episode and not an update we were expecting today because we were expecting the Corey Richard Strokes to continue, but prosecution wrapped up its case today.
They rested, and immediately afterwards the defense rested to the surprise of us, to the surprise of many in the courtroom, including the judge, because it didn't look like that's the way things were going. I think, road there's no other way to put it. Why would you rest your case without calling a witness.
That's only if you believe you proved or poked enough holes in the prosecution's case through cross examination that you don't need to put anybody else up there. And if the people who were on the list, I believe we had thought maybe her mother was going to testify, maybe her brother was going to testify maybe this guy who claims if it had been allowed that Eric Richards talked
about fentanyl seven years ago. But look, they have to weigh the cross examination with the direct questioning, and they clearly thought that it would do more harm than good, and they felt like through the cross they poked enough holes, they created enough reasonable doubt. And yesterday we did say, as we watched that whole trial yesterday, and it was a long one, Corey Richands' facial expressions changed. Her attorney absolutely started scoring points with the investigator with Carmen Lauber
when she was recalled yesterday. So that housekeeper, the woman who is accused of selling the drugs or giving the drugs to Corey Richins who purchased them from her, they did do a very good job at dismantling a lot of her credibility and her testimony. And so they had a pretty good day yesterday, and they think it was a really good day apparently, And why.
I messed with that right, very good to go. I'll never forget that the prosecutor friend of ours after when it happened to Agnefilo did it in the ditty trial, Like why would they do this? Big of stakes. Why would they do that the response she gave us, because they think they already won. That's why you don't put on witnesses. There's nothing to do. You've put on your entire case just using their witnesses. We have already won this case. And to hear something like that, it happened with Agnefhilo.
I know Diddy's in jail right now, he'll be out soon.
He won't be in jail for the rest of his life, which is what he was facing.
And then we see what happened with.
The For those of you us, those of you who have followed our trial coverage with the old pair, a fair trial. We saw Brendan Banfield take the stand. They put on a robust defense with witnesses and testimony from Brendan Banfield himself.
How that go for them? Not so well?
No, broath, I am jury's I have no idea, and most attorneys will tell you as well, Yeah, we can guess all day. We try to read the tea leaves. Every attorney will tell you we have no idea what this jury is going to do. So one of the hot ball This is a pretty significant update in a trial that we thought would go through next week even but it is the jury will be deliberating by Monday.
Yeah, we thought the big update might be that Corey Richins would or would not testify. Nope, We're talking closing arguments and jury deliberation, and it's happening next week on Monday. Of course, we will continue to monitor all the developments from that courtroom in Utah. Thank you, though in the meantime for listening to us. We always appreciate you. I'm Amy Robot alongside t. J.
Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.