CO - Gannon Stauch, 11, found deceased, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, 27 Jan 2020 *Arrest* #54

[imstilla.grandma]

The prosecution opened by presenting a picture of 11-year-old Gannon Stauch. The photo and the first words of the prosecution’s case immediately sent Gannon’s biological mother, Landen, running out of the courtroom, overcome with emotion.

“All of her actions were purposely done by her to distance herself from what she did. To throw off investigators, buy her time, escape accountability for what she did to Gannon on January 27th,” 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said.

Allen told the jury that Stauch’s sanity will be revealed in the evidence and testimony presented over the next six to eight weeks.

“You’ll hear her own voice through recorded phone calls and interviews,” Allen said. “The evidence itself will prove her sanity.”

Allen named several witnesses that will speak to Stauch’s mental state at the time of the murder, including Gannon’s father, Al, and Stauch’s biological daughter, Harley.

‘She was killing the demons in her life’: Sanity the focus in Stauch murder trial

Opening statements were heard Monday in the trial of a woman accused of killing her 11-year-old stepson at their Colorado home and disposing of his body in Florida.

kdvr.com

 

[Megnut]

I hope so too. But I can see how the defense might be able to turn it to their advantage, with the right line of questioning. I hope no one describe her having "different personalities."

IMO.

If she has multiple personalities, they're all disordered.

And I don't like any of them.

Jmo

 

[NCWatcher]

Murdaugh’s trial lasted 6 weeks. But I don’t get it with LS. As far as I know, she has NOT been determined to be legally insane by the state. The defense says she is, of course. Is the jury being asked to determine her sanity? I’ve not seen a case like this in my own state, where the defendant’s sanity is in question, yet they proceed to trial. Here a defendant would plead “guilty but mentally ill” and the judge would determine the sentence, typically confinement in a mental health institution.

Either she’s competent, or she’s not. The judge found her sane enough to go to trial. Her lawyer is admitting she killed Gannon.

I guess I couldn’t sit on that jury, as the NGRI just doesn’t fly with me. If she passed enough sanity checks to make it to trial, and she committed the murder, she’s guilty.

Not all states have laws allowing guilty but insane pleas/verdicts. And being competent to stand trial doesn't mean a person was sane at the time of the crime. At all. Competency for trial only means she basically understands the charges against her and can aid her attorney in her defense. And in fact, only people who are competent can be found not guilty by reason of insanity. (Because lack of competency would have precluded a trial.)
JMO

 

[10ofRods]

Murdaugh’s trial lasted 6 weeks. But I don’t get it with LS. As far as I know, she has NOT been determined to be legally insane by the state. The defense says she is, of course. Is the jury being asked to determine her sanity? I’ve not seen a case like this in my own state, where the defendant’s sanity is in question, yet they proceed to trial. Here a defendant would plead “guilty but mentally ill” and the judge would determine the sentence, typically confinement in a mental health institution.

Either she’s competent, or she’s not. The judge found her sane enough to go to trial. Her lawyer is admitting she killed Gannon.

I guess I couldn’t sit on that jury, as the NGRI just doesn’t fly with me. If she passed enough sanity checks to make it to trial, and she committed the murder, she’s guilty.

Yes. IMO, the jury is being asked specifically to determine that, through this sort of defense (not available in all states). NGRI. It's up to the prosecution to *prove* she's sane, that's what was said in court today.

This isn't about competence to stand trial (that's been decided already). It's about her legal defense under CO law, which allow a defense by reason of insanity. The DID defense allows her to claim she's really several different persons, each of them amnesiac and unable to control the actions of the others.

If she's found NGRI, she does go to a hospital for the criminally insane, where she will stay until psychiatrists determine she's not a risk to others. This makes me very nervous. Having said that, in my years of work inside hospitals for the criminally insane, it was rare that the treating psychiatrists allowed anyone out (for many reasons) but sometimes the families of the incarcerated hired someone and put on a pretty good show at the (mandated by the court) hearings. OTOH, the few who did get out didn't fare all that well (harming themselves mostly, thankfully, but still - it was very hard on the treating staff). Most judges want to see the insane person incarcerated for at least the time they would have served otherwise - but not always.

IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

DBM. Duplicate.

 

[steeltowngirl]

I can see insanity being a valid defense, but not in LS case. To me, insanity means the killer thought the victim's head was a lemon and decided to squeeze it for lemonade.

That's not even close to LS whose internet search history that showed she and AS were on the verge of breaking up and she wanted a new rich man. She was lying and conniving for weeks. Planning. Thinking she was smarter than anyone else.

Not crazy.
Evil.

Yes, she is evil. And guilty.

I believe insanity can be a defense, but the “not guilty” part doesn’t work for me. “Guilty but insane” will bring a different type of sentence by a judge here in PA. No trial.

“Not guilty by reason of insanity” - I don’t buy it.
She still killed Gannon. That is murder. She’s guilty of that part. (I also think she IS sane.)

How they determine the fate of a factually guilty but insane murderer is the essence here, I suppose. In Colorado it’s considered “not guilty”.

So be it.
If she got this far, then her next stop will be prison.

jmo

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

I know what you mean. All we can do is trust that Michael Allen is a top notch prosecutor and he will have the right questions ready for any incident, and I think he will. We will just have to trust that that's enough, and trust the jury.

His bio looks good.

About

District Attorney Michael J. Allen El Paso and Teller Counties

www.4thjudicialda.com

 

[steeltowngirl]

Yes. IMO, the jury is being asked specifically to determine that, through this sort of defense (not available in all states). NGRI. It's up to the prosecution to *prove* she's sane, that's what was said in court today.

This isn't about competence to stand trial (that's been decided already). It's about her legal defense under CO law, which allow a defense by reason of insanity. The DID defense allows her to claim she's really several different persons, each of them amnesiac and unable to control the actions of the others.

If she's found NGRI, she does go to a hospital for the criminally insane, where she will stay until psychiatrists determine she's not a risk to others. This makes me very nervous. Having said that, in my years of work inside hospitals for the criminally insane, it was rare that the treating psychiatrists allowed anyone out (for many reasons) but sometimes the families of the incarcerated hired someone and put on a pretty good show at the (mandated by the court) hearings. OTOH, the few who did get out didn't fare all that well (harming themselves mostly, thankfully, but still - it was very hard on the treating staff). Most judges want to see the insane person incarcerated for at least the time they would have served otherwise - but not always.

IMO.

Too wild. Experts on the prosecution and defense side can’t agree on her sanity, so it’s left up to a jury. That’s crazy IMO.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

She’s mentally deranged which is the definition of crazy. Not the same as insane. So her crazy made up a slew of crazies, each with separate identities. Which one crushed his skull like an eggshell? Well, that one can sit in the cell forever with all her other crazies. Oh, I am getting myself worked up. I better stop before I say something very unladylike.

 

[GoJacks]

Yes, she is evil. And guilty.

I believe insanity can be a defense, but the “not guilty” part doesn’t work for me. “Guilty but insane” will bring a different type of sentence by a judge here in PA. No trial.

“Not guilty by reason of insanity” - I don’t buy it.
She still killed Gannon. That is murder. She’s guilty of that part. (I also think she IS sane.)

How they determine the fate of a factually guilty but insane murderer is the essence here, I suppose. In Colorado it’s considered “not guilty”.

So be it.
If she got this far, then her next stop will be prison.

jmo

I imagine there was a case that brought about this "defense" or perhaps cases that using this actually makes a bit of sense.

With this case I'm pretty sure LS ran out of every other thing she was going try - and they had to settle with this. Throwing $h** at a wall basically and hoping it sticks. jmo.

 

[Tealgrove]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1642979547749679105

Aha. There we go!!!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Authorities allege Letecia Stauch killed 11-year-old Gannon Stauch in his bedroom a few hours before reporting him missing on Jan. 27, 2020, while his father was on a National Guard deployment, suggesting she was unhappy in her marriage and resentful of being treated like an unpaid babysitter. Stauch pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, with the defense claiming she suffered a “major psychotic crack,” as a result of childhood trauma, when she killed Gannon.

She cleaned up blood in Gannon's bedroom, moving it to various locations to hide it before disposing of it “like garbage” in a river that flows into the Gulf of Mexico in hopes it would never be found, he said.

'Psychotic crack' led woman to kill stepson, defense says

A prosecutor says a Colorado woman knew what she was doing when she stabbed her young...

www.timesunion.com

 

[arielilane]

Very sad for Gannon's mom, Landen, and I certainly can't blame her. I saw her leave the court room. Don't know if she returned though.

https://twitter.com/FierroNicole

“This case is about two people, the first is Gannon Jacob Stauch an 11-year-old boy who came into this world premature” - this line and Gannon's picture on the screen prompted Gannon's biological mother to run out of the room with emotion.

 

[10ofRods]

Yeah that defense seems pretty hopeless. She obviously knew right from wrong and she was not hallucinating or anything like that. I think it will be easy enough for the jury to see that.

The thing is, I am not sure that the jury will receive instruction specifically on what constitutes insanity. It becomes a version of the "reasonable person" rubric, in which the jury itself decides whether the person was insane. Hallucinations are one way of showing that, but perhaps not the only way?

I don't know much about NGRI, except that here in California, it's more frequently used for crimes other than murder. But it is used.

24-year-old Bay Area man found not guilty by reason of insanity for killing his mother

At sentencing, Riley faces a maximum punishment of 15 years to life in a state hospital and will be subject to parole supervision for life, court records indicate.

www.mercurynews.com

I was involved in a similar case, except that the parents were only injured, not killed. But in that case, guy was found incompetent to stand trial for a long time, and pleaded out guilty to assault with a deadly weapon (two counts) after several years in a mental institution (locked). The man was, IMO, schizophrenic and I was able to document family history records showing that schizophrenia and bipolar both ran in his family (the two most genetically determined of the mental illnesses). He had been nearly mute since his teen years, managed to complete 18 months in the military, and at the time of his criminal assault (and throughout the time I interacted with him), was convinced he was a Werewolf.

I don't think LS is schizophrenic, not by a long shot. And actual clinicians disagree strongly about the DID/Multiple Personality Diagnosis. it *is* in DSM-V at this time, IIRC, but that doesn't mean it's criminal insanity. I think the jury has to agree (reasonable decision by peers).

IMO.

 

[arielilane]

I've asked for a new thread. We'll need it for the morning.

 

[k-mac]

Think it is going to be pretty easy for the prosecution to prove up until the day she murdered Gannon there was never a hint of multiple personalities or signs of incompetence in her life.


It randomly started that very day. The very day she needed an excuse.

 

[arielilane]

Very unfair that she is allowed to sit and hide behind a monitor and also away from her attorneys. Why is she allowed to distance herself from two people who are representing her? Both defense attorneys were rolling their chairs over to her. imo, moo

 

[Love Never Fails]

For sure. Once she started “presplaining” evidence, it was over for me. The story never made sense. The posture of law enforcement never made sense.

Then we had that insane back to the camera interview, where she asked for a second take (she clearly didn’t think she was emotional enough).

She’s as evil as she is stupid.

If I, a thousand miles away, saw her as suspect number one, why didn’t LE hold her and question her repeatedly? They knew. They had to know.

 

[Love Never Fails]

Very unfair that she is allowed to sit and hide behind a monitor and also away from her attorneys. Why is she allowed to distance herself from two people who are representing her? Both defense attorneys were rolling their chairs over to her. imo, moo

I think her attorneys feel she even looks insane to sit away from them and alone.

 

[10ofRods]

Too wild. Experts on the prosecution and defense side can’t agree on her sanity, so it’s left up to a jury. That’s crazy IMO.

Couldn't agree more. It's the same in sexual harassment and discrimination cases. It's called the "reasonable person" standard (used to be called "the reasonable man" standard) but the idea is that areas vary in their definitions of insanity (for legal purposes). It's such a can of worms. For example, there are people who believe that having a different sexual or gender orientation is a form of "insanity," (DSM disagrees - but even psychiatrists used to be divided on this, until the 1970's or thereabouts).

Was also the standard (probably still is) for *advertiser censored* cases. What was "*advertiser censored*" in Las Vegas was not the same as "*advertiser censored*" in Utah and I believe there was a SC ruling on that.

Difficult issues. Guilty but insane is the best option for cases like this one. But, if NGRI means that Tee gets 25 years in a mental hospital instead of a prison, that may be better for everyone because criminally insane hospitals are not exactly a walk in the park - there are some who get attorneys to get themselves removed to lower security prisons. We can discuss that more if she ends up in such a place - I don't think she will. I like to think I know Coloradans and that they aren't going to buy her intermittent and sudden and extremely time-limited insanity defense.

IMO.