Letecia Stauch Can Represent Herself In Murder Trial, Judge Rules
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Letecia Stauch, the Colorado Springs woman accused of murdering her 11-year-old stepson, plans to represent herself in court. The judge tried repeatedly to convince Stauch that she would be better off having an attorney handle her defense, but Stauch insisted that she can do it herself, according to our news partners at KKTV.
According to KKTV Reporter Spenser Wilson, Stauch stated "I want to represent myself" and "I know how this works."
District Attorney Michael Allen spoke to Wilson after the hearing.
"Letecia Stauch is representing herself going forward in this case," Allen said. "She will be assigned advisory counsel, which is, she will have an attorney assigned to help her with different things with the case, but they will not be her actual legal counsel."
Allen said he'd never seen someone choose to represent themselves in high-profile case like this -- and he wouldn't recommend it.
"I would never advise somebody to represent themselves on any level of case because there's too many intricacies in the law and the judge sort of made that point today," Allen said.
Stauch brushed off the judge's concerns that she would not be able to work through all the evidence before the trial.
Gannon Stauch was reported missing on Jan. 27. Letecia Stauch called 911 to report that he had not returned after going to a friend's house.
Investigators believe he was killed in his bedroom.
According to the affidavit, and there was "blood spatter on the walls and enough blood loss to stain his mattress, soak through the carpet, the carpet pad and stain the concrete below his bed."
Two days after reporting him missing, Letecia Stauch changed her story -- claiming a man named "Eguardo" raped her at gunpoint, then took off with Gannon after he tried to stop the assault.
Gannon's body was found in Florida on March 18. The prosecution said the body was so badly decomposed a medical examiner hadn't been able to complete the autopsy.
Letecia Stauch faces a charge of first-degree murder with intent and deliberation, plus eight other "crime of violence" sentencing enhancer charges.
Her next court appearance will be March 5, to decide how much evidence there is and how to get it to Stauch so she can start representing herself.
Stauch's preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin on March 11 and is expected to last three days. At that hearing, prosecutors will be presenting evidence about the investigation to establish probable cause. They will also ask that Stauch continue to be held without bond.