Amy Jacobson 
0
0
COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. – After the state’s 17-day presentation of their case in chief, the defense got their chance to present witnesses. The list of witnesses consisted of two experts, Drs. Ronda Niederhauser and Dorothy Lewis.
Defense Witness #1: Dr. Ronda Niederhauser
The first to take the stand was Dr. Niederhauser. The testimony of Niederhauser was short and straight forward. Niederhauser met with Letecia Stauch twice, December 5 and 13, 2019. The first visit was prompted during an appointment between Stauch and her primary care physician. Stauch was having stress and anxiety related to harassment at her current job. Stauch was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and recommended that she get a prescription for hydroxyzine to help with sleep and anxiety, and see a therapist.
During the follow-up appointment with Niederhauser, it was discussed that Stauch decided to quit her current job for another, and Niederhauser reported that the symptoms of anxiety had begun to lessen. Niederhauser provided a letter to Stauch’s employer to relieve her of her contract on medical grounds. There were no more appointments between Niederhauser and Stauch.
The state went further into Stauch’s symptoms and Niederhauser’s impressions of her mental state during the cross-examination. Stauch self-reported trouble sleeping and moderate anxiety but denied suicidal or homicidal ideation and Niederhauser had no concerns that she was a danger either to herself or others. Stauch was also found to not have any signs of severe mental disorders.
Defense Witness #2: Dr. Dorothy Lewis
After a delay in proceedings by the tardiness of Dr. Lewis, the defense presented their second witness. Lewis interviewed Stauch for a total of 14 hours in November 2022. Stauch’s defense attorney, Josh Tolini, was in the room at the time of the interviews. Defense entered into evidence the videos of the interviews for the jury to view but did not present them in the court room.
Defense begins by having Lewis define dissociative identity disorder (“D.I.D.”). Lewis sees D.I.D. as a type of “self-hypnosis” caused by early, ongoing physical or sexual abuse that can no longer be coped with. The alter, according to Lewis, “takes on characteristics of the abuser.” During cross-examination, Lewis is asked whether Stauch turned into her alleged abuser, James. Lewis responds with the same question. No altar named James is ever revealed. Lewis does, however, speak of an altar named Maria she describes as “harsh, angry, [and] hurtful.”
Testimony moves to the events leading up to the death of the victim, Gannon Stauch. On this topic, Lewis is unclear about what Stauch told her versus what she read. Lewis testifies to Stauch telling “numerous” and “mindless” stories which Lewis cannot think straight. “She makes up the darndest stories,” Lewis says, “I don’t think she knows what happened.” Claiming that at the time Stauch tells the stories Stauch doesn’t believe them.
Lewis found that Stauch has “many of the signs, symptoms, and behaviors of dissociative identity disorder” but does not give specifics. “About the time Gannon was killed, she was psychotic at the time…I don’t think she knew what she was doing.”
Dr. Lewis, The Cross-Examination
After defense’s direct of Lewis, she was cross-examined by Prosecutor Dave Young. The 2-day cross-examination opens with questioning Lewis on whether she looked at the Colorado statute regarding sanity before rendering an opinion. Lewis responds, “I did but I’d have to refresh myself” and is unable to give the Colorado law she used to render her opinion, asking Young to read her the law before she can say.
The next topic of concern is the EEG Lewis claims would have helped with her more fully render her opinion. “Do you recall being asked to testify why you wanted and EEG done,” asked Young. To which Lewis responded, “I do not know what you’re talking about…It was my understanding that the court had refused the funding.” The request for an EEG and MRI was withdrawn by defense on October 3, 2022 after receiving an e-mail, introduced by prosecution, from Lewis giving them the go ahead to withdraw the request.
The first time Lewis spoke with Tolini was in February 2022, after which Stauch changed her plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. Lewis testified to assuming when she recommended this change of plea. She had not reviewed anything on the case at the time she made the recommendation.
Lewis claims to insist that there have been evidence pointing to D.I.D. long before she comes on the case. This evidence in large part comes from those who know the subject to be evaluated as they can testify to changes. Lewis did not speak to any family of friends of Stauch. Lewis “asked the attorney with who [she] could speak, and [she] was not put in touch with any of these people, so [she] didn’t use them.”
“Why didn’t you refuse to testify because you didn’t have done what you wanted to have done,” Young asks. To which, Lewis responds, “I don’t know. I probably should have.”
“Did the thought ever cross your mind that [Stauch] could be faking it,” Young asks. “No, it did not occur to me,” Lewis responds.
The State Questions Lewis on The Day Gannon Died
The answers to questions about the day Gannon was killed did not have solid answers. Stauch texted her boss during the early morning of January 27, 2020, claiming that her stepfather was killed crossing the road and she wouldn’t be able to work. Stauch’s stepfather was killed in 2004. To this, Lewis says Stauch “clearly was not thinking clearly or accurately. It’s one of those excuses a person of her intellect would not be expected to volunteer. You would almost say there’s a stupidity about it but she isn’t stupid.”
“Could it be she just didn’t want to go to work that day,” Young asks.
“Unlikely, but possibly,” Lewis responds.
Stauch called into Gannon’s school that same morning informing them he would not be in that day. “Nothing psychotic about that,” asks Young.
“At the time I read that, and became aware of it, I was puzzled because I thought, gee, he must have been dead then…it really did not make sense to me,” Lewis responds. “Gannon couldn’t go to school, but I learned, subsequently, that he is reportedly dead a lot later than that so it’s a puzzle why she called in to say he couldn’t come in.”
Young then digs deeper into Lewis’s thought on Stauch’s mental state on this day, asking Lewis if Stauch has the capacity to know right from wrong. “I don’t know,” Lewis says. “That’s a leap if you can’t talk to the person. I don’t know.”
I Don’t Know, and I Can’t Say
Is she legally insane at the time,” Young asks.
“I don’t know. I would have to know a whole lot more,” Lewis responds.
“If you don’t know a lot more, can you come in here and say that she was legally insane at the time she went to Petco?”
“I can’t say, because I don’t know enough about it.”
“Did she have the capacity to know right from wrong?”
“I don’t know that.”
“Based on the stab wounds alone, did the person doing that have the capacity to form the intent to kill?”
“I can’t answer that.”
“The fact that she gets a gun. Does that tell you she had the capacity to form the intent to kill?”
“I don’t know.”
But Did She Know Right from Wrong?
“That she moved the body from the storage room to the Tiguan to the airport. Does that show that she had the capacity to know right from wrong?”
“I don’t feel qualified to conclude that. She certainly had the capacity to move it from one place to another, for one reason or another, and certainly seemed to be keeping it a secret of some sort…She knows she could be in great trouble if this is not hidden.”
“Did she have the capacity to wash away the incriminating evidence by washing the Tiguan?”
“Yes.”
“She goes back to the area in Palmer Lake where the body is. Is that evidence she knows right from wrong?”
“In my opinion, that’s evidence of stupidity.”
The Defense Gets Another Chance with Lewis
At the conclusion of Young’s 2 days of questions and videos of the interviews between Lewis and Stauch, and Stauch’s attorney, Josh Tolini, the defense has the opportunity to question Lewis again. Re-direct is kept short.
In regards to the EEG and the e-mail of Lewis telling defense to withdraw the request, Lewis explains “It was not something I was going to get hung up on at that point in time.”
Is there a rational explanation, other than a psychotic episode or any type of motive? Lewis is “unaware of any motive that makes sense.”
Before sitting down, Tolini gives Lewis the chance to sum up her thoughts. “What you call it,” Lewis says, “is so much less important than what you understand about it…signs, symptoms, behaviors…very odd relationships…I don’t care what you call it…the person is living a psychotic life.”
Who Benefited More?
Niederhouser’s testimony was straight forward and spoke of Stauch having no signs of severe or debilitating mental illness in the defendant and of the two days Lewis was on the stand, the majority of the evidence presented, and questions directed to her were from the state. Lewis seemed to get lost often and go into word salad. She is uncertain of many facts of the case, and unable to give solid answers to the state’s questions. Defense got in a few good questions, with decent answers. Was it enough? Did the testimony of the 2 doctors help the defense or the state?
To learn more about Colorado vs. Letecia Stauch:
Trial to Start for Letecia Stauch, Woman Charged with Killing Her Stepson
Father of Murdered Child Testifies
State’s Exhibit #35, The Phone Call
Internet Searches Give Jury A Look into Defendant’s State of Mind
