Week 5 Day 20
5/5/2023
NOW: I’m in
#ColoradoSprings for what’s expected to be the final day of trial for the woman accused of killing her 11-year-old stepson,
#GannonStauch. We just walked inside the courtroom.
#LeteciaStauch is wearing a blue jacket today.
Judge Gregory Werner just walked in, right after defense attorneys Josh Tolini and Will Cook. The entire
@4thJudicialDA team is here too. The jury is not in the courtroom. The judge says we need to discuss jury instruction after an email he got this morning.
"Because this is a request for an instruction on evidence that wasn't actually presented," the judge doesn't think he can give one. "I know what the issue is," he says. "I can't make a stipulation, and can't tell the jury what evidence hasn't been presented.”
It sounds as though that was in relation to a request from the defense, but I could not hear what Tolini was saying to the judge. Now, clarifying verdict forms with the Lead Prosecutor and District Attorney, Michael Allen.
Going through today, I feel it's important to remember:
#GannonStauch was an 11-year-old boy who lived in Lorson Ranch (southern El Paso County). He loved his little sister, was a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, and his favorite color was blue.
The judge says the plan, after finishing jury instructions, is to bring jurors in around 9 AM. Prosecutors and defense anticipate their closing arguments lasting an hour each. Those should start around 10. A lunch break will likely happen after closings, then rebuttal.
Sounds like there will be NO rebuttal after closings.
#LeteciaStauch, who I am sitting behind, is looking closely at documents on a computer screen. Court is in recess until around 9.
A clarification on this - NO rebuttal evidence is what I should have said. DA Michael Allen says they will have a rebuttal. My apologies.
Judge Werner is back in the courtroom. Jury is in the room too. It's a packed house today - with lots of members of the public in here. The defense rests their case. We move on to jury instructions, then closing arguments.
While jurors are being read the detailed instructions - Lorson Ranch neighbors show their support for
#GannonStauch. I remember when this corner of grass was flooded with blue lights and such - in the days & weeks following his disappearance on Jan. 27, 2020.
The judge referenced the instruction added this morning. It's about a WebEx meeting an attorney had with
#LeteciaStauch at the start of the pandemic, while she was in jail - later that day, she had a conversation with Dr. Mohr about
#GannonStauch's body being found in Florida.
Court is in recess for around 15 minutes. Jury has been read all their instructions. Closing arguments are next.
Jury is in the courtroom.
We're starting with Prosecutor Dave Young for closing arguments. "It's been a long trial, you guys have sat through a lot of evidence," he begins. "We spend a lot of time talking about the defendant."
Young wants to talk about
#GannonStauch. "Gannon's been in a box, back here, the whole trial," he says gesturing toward the front of the courtroom. He shows the jury a framed picture of Gannon. Gannon's father, Al, is tearing up.
What Gannon had to tell the jurors through his autopsy is all they need to know, according to Young. On March 17, 2020, Gannon's body was found inside of a suitcase under a bridge in the panhandle of Florida.
oung uses a diagram to go over the injuries
#GannonStauch sustained, because "the injuries are relevant." He claims they're also relevant to
#LeteciaStauch's state of mind. The first diagram depicts the stab wounds (18) and gunshot wound to his left chin area.
"Gannon was defending himself, he was fighting... despite having hydrocodone in his system," says Young. "18 times, 18 times, she took a knife and stabbed him. The locations, what does that tell you?... It's not psychotic, it's strategic."
"The stab wounds are to the chest, as Gannon's fighting the stab wounds are to his back," Young continued. The diagram "doesn't do justice" to the skull fracture Gannon sustained. "She (
#LeteciaStauch) completely obliterated his skull.”
She goes and gets a handgun, and she fired that gun three times," says Young. Two bullets went into his pillow - this all happened in his bed. "The only bullet that matters" is the one that hit
#GannonStauch.
Now, talking about "getting rid of Gannon's body in Florida." Young says we know that sometime between 4 and 5 in the morning,
#LeteciaStauch was out on the bridge in Florida. "Why does she park there? Because she can. 4 in the morning - there's no traffic out there.”
"She probably had to wait until there was no traffic, and she gets rid of the body. Did she ever think the body would be found again?" We're looking at a picture showing the suitcase found under the bridge - the suitcase
#GannonStauch's body was inside.
"Let's talk about the law," Young says, transitioning from the bridge to a slide showing elements that constitute first-degree murder. After deliberation and with intent are highlighted because those are the mental states in question with the NGRI plea.
"To go from grabbing a knife, a blunt-force object, a gun... is she making a decision?" asks Young. "Did she intend to kill Gannon?... I would suggest that that's not disputed.”
Young says it can't be disputed that
#GannonStauch was in a position of trust - since
#LeteciaStauch was his stepmother. We're now moving to insanity - and the legal definition. "This is not a mental illness, this is a legal definition," Young says.
"The law presumes everyone to be sane. There's a presumption of sanity," Young says. The defendant was insane if they were incapable of distinguishing right and wrong, or they suffered from a condition of mind caused by a mental disease or defect.
"If you lose your temper, you don't get to claim insanity," Young says. "We're humans. We have emotions." Mental disease or defect means "severely abnormal mental conditions that grossly and demonstrably impair a person's perception or understanding of reality..." (cont.).
"... and that are not attributable to the voluntary ingestion of alcohol or any other psychoactive substance. Mental disease or defect does not include an abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct." ^This is all the legal definition.
Now, talking about the doctors who testified. Young begins by referencing Dr. Ronda Niederhauser, who treated
#LeteciaStauchfor general anxiety. "That's not a severe and abnormal mental condition," says Young, pointing at the legal definition being shown to the jury.
Dr. Niederhauser also said
#LeteciaStauch had no history of inpatient treatment and no evidence of psychosis. Young says if she was experiencing psychosis, the doctor would have been required to commit her to a mental health hospital. The timing of that visit - December 2019.
"What else happened right before Gannon was murdered? She goes on a cruise in January. You think that had something to do with her not wanting to go to work?" Now - on to Dr. Christine Mohr - who does psychological evaluations for inmates in jail.
Young says that in March 2020, Dr. Mohr went to
#LeteciaStauch and said "Gannon's body was found." Apparently, Letecia's response was "I was never in Florida." June 2020 in the jail - Dr. Mohr reviews Stauch's notes from deputies that say "I'm going to start acting crazy.”
First competency evaluation was done at the state mental health hospital in
#Pueblo. What's relevant about that first evaluation (July 2020) - they have a two-week observation period where nurses and employees are watching
#LeteciaStauch. (cont.
Apparently,
#LeteciaStauch goes to one of the nurses and asks if they can tell when someone is "faking it." No evidence of psychosis during the August 2020 evaluation, or history of inpatient treatment.
Young asks again - "do you think she might be faking it?" Second competency evaluation - December 2020. Now,
#LeteciaStauchstarts talking about dissociative personality disorder, saying she has four distinct personalities. (cont.).
During the evaluation, Young says Letecia cited characters from the Twilight movies as her other personalities. Feb. 2022 - counsel had a conversation with Dr. Dorothy Lewis who recommended
#LeteciaStauch change her plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.
#LeteciaStauch is sitting hunched over during this closing argument from the prosecution. Young says one of the questions a doctor asked is if they could talk to "Maria Sanchez" - another personality Letecia claims comes out when there's a "trigger" of some sort.
Allegedly,
#LeteciaStauch told that doctor she couldn't just summon Maria Sanchez. Dr. Torres and Dr. Gray determined she was not legally insane at the time of
#GannonStauch's murder.
Young says publicity is a motive for Dr. Lewis. He also tells the jury to consider her demeanor while testifying (she was late multiple times). "Dr. Lewis, she didn't know the legal definition of insanity in the State of Colorado... the whole reason she came in to testify.”
"A few days before trial, she hands over a report saying 'I find her legally insane,'" Young says about Dr. Lewis (a defense witness). Young says
#LeteciaStauch's "exaggerated" answers to questions "didn't seem to matter" to Dr. Lewis.
Now, a video from 1/26/2020. Letecia: "Gannon, I promise this is the last time I'm going to ask you... are you sure you didn't do it on purpose?" Gannon cries, "I promise." Letecia says they have to "sell stuff" to fix it. Gannon cries more. "I'm just worried about my burns.”
We saw that video on the first day of trial during opening statements, too. The next morning (early on 1/27/2020),
#LeteciaStauch made the decision to text her work, saying her stepfather had just been killed in an accident, and she couldn't come to work.
Shortly after that, Young says
#LeteciaStauch made the decision that
#GannonStauch wasn't going to go to school either. She apparently told Gannon's father it was because of "stomach issues." Gannon's father was out of town - Letecia sent him a picture of Gannon in bed.
"Do you think she wants to prove that he's still alive?" asks Young. 1/27/2020: 9:54 AM
#LeteciaStauch texts Gannon's dad "I left my phone at home" before she left the house. 10:12 AM Letecia and
#GannonStauch leave the home. "What the heck is she doing taking a sick kid out?”
#LeteciaStauch and
#GannonStauch get home at 2:20 PM. At 2:26 PM, Young says Letecia backed the Tiguan into the garage. "This is when the murder happened," Young says, attempting to show the jury she was planning the murder with the way she placed the car in the garage.
Laina Stauch (Gannon's little sister) gets home a bit after 3 PM. Letecia allegedly doesn't let her in the house. Young says that's because she had to clean. 3:35 PM - Al texts Gannon "hey buddy" No one read that text until 7:40 PM. Young says it was the defendant who read it.
"You heard evidence that she never backed that Tiguan into the garage until that day," says Young. When picking up Al from the airport, Young says
#LeteciaStauch had already made the decision to rent a car. Young says Letecia left Gannon's body in the Tiguan at the airport.
Young says there's evidence
#LeteciaStauch manipulated her daughter, Harley. He asks the jury if they think that means Letecia was manipulating Gannon and Laina, too. 1/29/2020 - Letecia heads to an interview with investigators. Her car was washed on the way there.
Jan. 31, 2020 - the interview with
@Spencer_WNews, when he worked at KKTV is played. "I'm not allowed to talk about anything with the case... I would never, ever, ever hurt this child,"
#LeteciaStauch tells Spencer. Prosecutors allege she shows manipulation in the interview.
"Wait until the end, and see what happens, because Gannon's going to come home,"
#LeteciaStauch tells Spencer. She says she wants a "sincere apology" from everyone who questioned her during that time.
"You know the rest of the story," Young says, talking about
#LeteciaStauch driving to Florida. Young talks about several different stories Letecia told investigators following
#GannonStauch's disappearance, even telling Al that Gannon wasn't in the car when she left a store.
If someone is insane and doesn’t know right from wrong, Young says they wouldn’t hide the body and they wouldn’t lie. “There’s only one right verdict in this case, and that’s guilty, to each and every charge,” says Young. With that, he’s done.
Defense attorney Josh Tolini steps up for his closing argument. He shows the same picture we saw on day 1 during openings - a selfie of
#LeteciaStauch,
#GannonStauch, and Laina during a hike at Garden of the Gods. He says the one question prosecutors can’t answer - motive.
Tolini says none of what prosecutors have done “in the biggest investigation in the history of El Paso County” shows a motive. “The only thing that possibly makes sense is a psychotic break,” says Tolini.
“Mental illness from her past got triggered during a temporary period of psychosis,” Tolini says. Tolini gets out an easel and puts a poster board with a timeframe on it, facing the jury. DA Michael Allen is taking notes, prepping for his rebuttal.
Tolini claims that the fire that burned
#GannonStauch is what sparked a trigger for her psychosis. Tolini says
#LeteciaStauch grew up with “horrible trauma.”
Tolini says while prosecutors insinuate
#GannonStauch’s murder was planned by
#LeteciaStauch - “Why is she taking him in the car and going to Petco to buy Valentine’s Day outfits for the dogs? Why would she push back the timeline to right before Laina got home?”
“The brutality of the attack, ladies and gentlemen, I would say is the strongest evidence of a psychotic break,” says Tolini. Tolini says when Laina came home, she was allowed inside for around 10-15 minutes. He directly disputes what prosecutors said - Laina wasn’t let inside.
“I would put before you the strongest evidence of dissociative going on here - look at the body worn camera of the deputies that night,” says Tolini. He says
#LeteciaStauch was laughing, joking, and completely dissociating from what had just happened.
Tolini says
#LeteciaStauch’s different stories are not the actions of a sane, rational person. “She keeps changing her stories, she keeps giving different accounts, Gannon is placed in the suitcase, driven to Florida,” Tolini continues.
Tolini says one of
#LeteciaStauch’s Google searches while in South Carolina included - face transplant near me. “Those are not the actions of a sane and rational person. Those are the actions of someone who is delusional.” “What then we’re brought back to, is why?”
Tolini is now defending their witness, Dr. Lewis. He says she’s 85, is peer-reviewed, and has an HBO documentary “because she is groundbreaking in her field.” “What she has is the decades and decades of experience with this,” says Tolini.
He says Dr. Lewis had 14 hours of interviews with
#LeteciaStauch. Of all the hundreds of “mentally ill people” Dr. Lewis has dealt with, Letecia is one of the “most mentally ill.” Tolini is not disputing Letecia killed
#GannonStauch, but she was “not in her right mind.”
Tolini claims all the doctors who evaluated
#LeteciaStauch believe she has some kind of mental illness - but what that is, is where they disagree. “For whatever reason, her stress in life was becoming overwhelming,” says Tolini.
He says it’s not important to call it borderline personality disorder or dissociative identity disorder - what’s important, is to realize
#LeteciaStauch experienced a psychotic break.
“The covering up of the murder does not preclude insanity,” Tolini says. He’s thanking the jury for their time and sacrifice for sitting through this “long trial.” “We are asking you to find her not guilty by reason of insanity.”
Tolini says finding
#LeteciaStauch not guilty by reason of insanity would mean the jury is still holding her accountable. She would be sent to the state mental health hospital in
#Pueblo. He concludes.
Prosecution will have a rebuttal in around 10 minutes. Jury is getting the chance to get up and stretch.
I’ll thread that rebuttal here.
DA Michael Allen is starting his rebuttal with “the only fantasy in this courtroom is that this defendant, this stepmom, who killed Gannon, is psychotic.”
“They want to talk to you about motive,” Allen says - but continues saying that’s not something prosecutors have to prove.
Still, Allen says they proved motive. He says one of
#LeteciaStauch’s Google searches was “I hate my stepson.” He says Letecia wanted to hurt Gannon, Al, and Gannon’s mom, Landen. Allen says ultimately, she did.
Allen says it doesn’t make sense for Al to leave town if he thought there were signs of psychosis in
#LeteciaStauch. “He never saw a single sign from her,” says Allen. But, Allen says Al couldn’t see the hatred in her heart.
Allen says any of
#LeteciaStauch’s “freaking out” that she’s supposedly doing is just acting. Allen says “she knew Gannon was done that day.” He says she was calculated, manipulative, and lying to everyone “because it’s about her,” and was not making anything about Gannon.
“She wanted to kill him,” Allen says. Tolini said the brutality of the murder proves psychosis. “Is that true?” Allen asks. “The defendant’s own actions have the answers for you.” He says the brutality shows how much
#LeteciaStauch hated
#GannonStauch.
Allen says the video they’ve shown of
#GannonStauch crying about his burns was the start of
#LeteciaStauch’s attack. He says the hydrocodone in Gannon’s system was the continuation of that attack.
Allen addresses the picture Tolini has shown on both the first and last day of the trial. “They’re proof of life pictures,” Allen says - a very different take than Tolini’s argument. “A way to cover her tracks,” Allen says about the pictures.
“People who live by stories, by telling tall tales, don’t stop. Why would she stop doing that when this case started?” “Everything this woman did in her life was manipulation,” Allen says - insinuating her insanity plea is more of that.
Allen says it was not psychosis - “it’s who she is,” as he points at
#LeteciaStauch, who’s looking down. Allen continues: Dr. Lewis might be a world-renowned expert, but she’s the only one the defense could find to testify that Letecia has dissociative identity disorder.
“Any time she was pressed to justify her opinion, she couldn’t do it,” Allen says about Dr. Lewis. Allen continues by saying to the jurors “if the crimes fit, you should convict.” “Deliberations are up to you,” Allen says.
“Can this defendant distinguish right from wrong?” The evidence and her actions say she did, according to Allen.
“You don’t stab an 11-year-old 18 times… unless you intend to kill him.” “You don’t hit him over the head 4 separate times… and then you don’t retrieve a handgun… and squeeze the trigger three intentional times, unless you intend to kill him, Allen says.
Allen also says the knife, and whatever blunt-force object that was used, have never been found. Points about dissociative identity disorder are being shown: extremely rare, prevalence in society is ~1.4%.
“She knew she could never replace the love that Gannon had for Landen (his mom),” Allen says.
#LeteciaStauch is still hunched over, not looking up at prosecutors.
Allen is going through the stories
#LeteciaStauch made up about what could have happened to
#GannonStauch. “Pointing any way except for her,” Allen says. “Figuring out a way to cast blame elsewhere and situate herself as the victim.”
Perhaps the cruelest stories of them all, Allen says, is when
#LeteciaStauch said it was Landen or Al’s fault - Gannon’s mom and dad. “It shows you the hatred that she had for these people,” Allen says.
“When she realizes those external sources aren’t working, Dr. Dorothy Lewis comes into play,” Allen says, referencing the other personalities
#LeteciaStauch said she had. One of those was Maria Sanchez, the “Spanish-speaking Russian sniper.”
“Sometime, prior to Gannon’s death, she searches: I hate my stepson,” Allen says. He says
#LeteciaStauch burned Gannon, and made it look like he was experimenting with drugs (hydrocodone was found in his system). Allen says these are all signs of premeditated murder.
Allen says she “manipulated the heck” out of this investigation, which is why it’s the biggest one in El Paso County history. There’s a picture of her face projected to the courtroom, with words like hid, burned, and attacked around it.
Suddenly, the 911 call from 1/27/2020 is being played. Letecia tells dispatch Gannon was supposed to be at a friend’s house, but he hasn’t come home. “He’s only 11,” she says. As Letecia spells his name, the prosecution plays the individual letters of it on the screen.
Clearly, the spelling of
#GannonStauch’s name being highlighted is a nod to remembering the boy at the center of this case. It was spelled out alongside a school picture of Gannon.
“Who’s the last person to see him?” Letecia: “I guess me?” The jury heard that call on day 1 of the trial. “He (Gannon) deserves all of the justice that you can give him,” Allen says to finish his rebuttal. Now, it’s in the hands of the jury.
Gannon’s father, Al, is leaning forward and listening intently as Judge Werner reminds the jury of their instructions for deliberations. The judge reminds jurors that “getting stuck” is often part of the process. “It is best to be patient with one another.”
12 jurors leave to eat lunch and start deliberating. There are 5 alternates the judge is now speaking with - saying it is possible they could replace any of the 1-12 jurors. They will be released, but are not excused from jury service.
Court is in recess. Defense attorney Will Cook pats
#LeteciaStauch’s shoulder and says “you just never know.” Once a verdict is reached, everyone will have around 30 minutes to get back to the courtroom.
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