COLORADO SPRINGS — Letecia Stauch, the El Paso County woman accused of murdering her stepson two years ago, now has a trial date set for March of next year.
I spoke with Jeremy Loew, a criminal attorney who says cases like these are complicated.
“Cases that are big, homicide cases, cases that are across state lines like this one, cases where there is mental health, they can drag on for years,” said Loew.
Part of the reason this case is dragging on is Stauch first pleaded not guilty but then changed her plea to not guilty by reason of insanity last February.
“In a case like Letecia Stauch, the issue is that she’s not going anywhere. She’s sitting in jail. If a conviction does come, she’s just going to be sitting in a different jail, in a prison. So, the courts want to ensure that she has the right to a fair trial and that all of the mental health issues have been addressed so that it doesn’t come back on appeal.”
The judge confirmed that although a trial date has been set, things could change.
The “clock for a speedy trial” will not start until all of Strauch’s evaluations are complete by December. These tests will determine if she was sane at the time of the alleged crime.
It’s important to know the difference between competency and sanity. Competency determines if a defendant can stand trial and understand the proceedings. Sanity determines if a defendant knew what they were doing at the time of the crime. Stauch has been found competent to stand trial twice.
Loew broke down the reasoning behind all of these evaluations before the trial.
“They want to make sure that the trial is done perfectly so they don’t have to do a second trial and the best way to do that is to ensure that all the mental health issues and all the competency and anything that would interfere with her having a fair trial has been addressed so they only have to try this case once,” said Loew.
The defense will have an out-of-state expert perform the mental health evaluation at the El Paso County Jail by December.
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