Kouri Richins' lawyers have highlighted the fact that investigators didn't save a bottle of hydrocodone pills found in Kouri and Eric Richins' home after Eric died. They raised the issue again on Friday (March 13, day 14) during the charge conference on jury instructions.Nester said the fact that the bottle wasn't preserved is "spoliation" that warrants an "adverse inference" instruction, meaning Judge Richard Mrazik should instruct jurors that they should infer that the pill bottle was helpful to the defense. He declined to do so. "I will concede it up front, we certainly don't have any evidence that suggests they intentionally destroyed it. I mean, we've just not come across that in any way. But there's definitely going to be some gross negligence here, if the main container of potentially illicit drugs of someone who was found dead of illicit drugs is lost and made not able for us to recover," Nester said. "You're putting a lot of weight on 'main.' There were other bottles recovered in the house," Mrazik said."Not right next to the body," Nester said. "There was an unknown dust on the nightstand right where the pill bottle was. Could have been part of that, if it was crushed, or if it was snorted, or whatever it was. I don't know." The bottle was sent with Eric's body to the medical examiner's office, and Mrazik said Nester doesn't "have any evidence that the medical examiner's office kept it long enough for the investigators to get custody of it." "They don't keep everything forever. I need more here," the judge said. "I understand that this is a good faith argument, but spoliation requires findings, and it is a multi-factor analysis, and I can't skip steps, right? In order to make a ruling as to whether a an adverse inference instruction is even appropriate, I've got to get through duty and breach and prejudice, right? And we don't have that evidentiary showing." i "Well, we definitely have duty. We definitely have that. It's material. I think the only thing that's in question is the breach, right?" Nester said. The judge said Kouri Rchins "certainly knew that the body was taken, right?" "She had an opportunity to ask, 'What else do you have? Are there any personal effects? What are you going to do with the personal effects,'" Mrazik said. "Now I'm not casting any aspersions. I'm just saying there are other facts that I'd have to consider." Kouri Richins, 35, is charged with five crimes: aggravated murder alleging she poisoned her husband with fentanyl for financial gain, attempted criminal homicide, third-degree forgery and two counts of second-degree insurance fraud. Jurors are to report to the Silver Summit Justice Center near Park City, Utah, Monday (March 16) at 8:30 a.m. for instruction and closing argument. The judge eliminated public seats in his courtroom to allot more space for the victim and defendant's family and supporters. You can watch him explain here @Meghann Cuniff. #law #crime #attorney #court - @meghannmcuniff