Solid write-up on today’s hearing, IMO:
LANCE BENZEL lance.benzel@gazette.com
Mar 11, 2020 Updated 6 min ago
“The parents of 11-year-old Gannon Stauch sat in a front row in court Tuesday as the stepmother accused in the missing boy’s presumed murder made a brief appearance.
The defendant, Letecia Stauch, 36, was formally charged with first-degree murder and three other counts.
She did not address the court during a roughly 15-minute hearing, but whispered several times to one of the public defenders representing her.
Nor did she look at Gannon’s parents, Albert Stauch and Landen Hiott, who sat next to each other and kept their gaze trained on the judge. Letecia Stauch’s long black hair mostly hid her profile from observers in the gallery.
The courtroom was filled to capacity,
except for a front row reserved for Letecia Stauch’s supporters, which remained empty.
Fourth Judicial District Judge Gregory Werner ordered that prosecutors ‘immediately’ provide the defense with a copy of Letecia Stauch’s arrest affidavit. That document, which lays out grounds for her arrest, remains under a sealing order.
The judge said he will issue a written order later in response to a motion filed by numerous media outlets, including The Gazette, that the document be made available to the public. The prosecution said it did not object to the media request. The defense, which as [
sic] asked for a gag order limiting pretrial statements in the case, has already filed a response opposing the document’s release.
More than 1,000 pages of law enforcement reports and at least 107 search warrants have been generated thus far; lead prosecutor Michael Allen also cited ’
tons‘ of video footage, obtained from cell phones and other sources.
Because none of the material has been made available to the defense,
the judge set an April 13 review hearing at which he will address next steps in the case. The judge could decide then whether any of the investigative materials will be publicly available under the state’s open record’s [
sic] laws, or if they will be kept under seal.
At a news conference afterward,
Allen didn’t rule out a potential death-penalty bid against Letecia Stauch, saying his office will evaluate both whether the case is eligible for a capitol trial and whether prosecutors will pursue one.
His comments come even as Democratic lawmakers in Colorado mull a repeal of the death penalty in Colorado.
Prosecutors filed the same four counts announced at the time of the defendant’s arrest. They are first-degree murder of a child less than 12 by one in a position of trust; child abuse resulting in death; tampering with a body; and tampering with evidence.
The ’position of trust’ element of the murder charge lowers the bar prosecutors must prove to obtain a mandatory life term in prison.
Prosecutors generally must prove that someone intended to kill and deliberated for causing someone’s death. In the case of the charge against Letecia Stauch, the prosecution need only prove that she ’knowingly’ caused the boy’s death.
The child abuse count his [
sic] the second-highest charge against her, carrying a potential penalty of up to 48 years in prison.
[SBM]
She wore a lime-green jumpsuit in court Tuesday,
indicating she is likely being kept separate from other inmates. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Deborah Mynatt did not return a voicemail inquiring about Letecia Stauch’s custodial arrangements.
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Gannon's parents watch as stepmom appears in court on murder charge
