COLORADO SPRINGS — On Thursday, two years after Gannon Stauch was reported missing, Letecia Stauch appeared in-person at the El Paso County Courthouse for a Motions Hearing.
Despite filing a request to appear virtually for the original Motions Hearing date on January 13, the Colorado Springs woman accused of murdering her stepson, Gannon Stauch, sat in the room as the judge denied multiple requests to suppress cell phone evidence.
Judge Werner denied the Defense's motion to suppress contents of Stauch's cellphone, and the motion to suppress wiretap evidence from two phones Stauch purchased after the El Paso County Sheriff's seized her original phone.
Another motion to change the venue for the case was not addressed.
At theprevious Motions Hearing, Stauch was scheduled to have a mental health evaluation at the State Hospital in Pueblo. However, the judge raised concerns about the timeliness of the evaluation before the case goes to trial as the hospital deals with a waiting list of patients and staffing shortages.
The hospital sent a letter to the court saying they have two doctors prepared to evaluate Stauch towards the end of February, but the court likely will not get the results until March 31.
Stauch's trial is slated to start March 28.
The judge touched on what to expect for jury selection, saying the process will take as long as it needs to until they have successfully found a panel of 70 qualified people, before narrowing that number down to 16 jurors - 12 who make the final decision, and 4 alternates.
Only audio will be live streamed.
The judge is looking at a 4-page questionnaire for potential jurors with both generic questions, and questions specific to Stauch's case.
Stauch's next court appearance is scheduled for March 17 for a Pre-trial Readiness Conference.
Right now, the trial will be Monday through Friday at 9:00 am each day.
