Letecia Stauch’s next hearing delayed to give more time with evidence
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Letecia Stauch, the woman accused of killing her 11-year-old stepson, will get more time to review the evidence against her before the next hearing in her case.
During a status hearing Friday, Judge Gregory Werner set the next evidentiary hearing for May 20 after hearing complaints from Stauch that she didn't have full access to evidence documents.
Stauch, who's facing multiple criminal charges including first-degree murder, opted last week to fire her attorneys and represent herself in the case.
A hearing was set for mid-March to review the evidence against Stauch, and she had tried to waive her right to the hearing but prosecutors said they wished to proceed with one. Friday, she said she wasn't sure if she wanted to waive her right to the hearing without seeing all of the evidence.
Stauch said she needed access to review documents while she is being held in the El Paso County Jail. District Attorney Michael Allen said he had concerns over security in the jail and pointed to several issues with Stauch, saying she had tried to break windows with common items. A representative with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office agreed and said they had significant security concerns over giving Stauch all of the paper evidence.
DA Allen is now saying she’s had several security issues in jail, she’s tried to break windows with “common items”, and so he’s unsure if she’d be allowed to have paper copies of evidence in her cell.
— Sydnee Stelle (@SydneeStelle) March 5, 2021
Prosecutors said they would put all of the discovery evidence on a portable hard drive to be kept in the law library jail for Stauch to access. Stauch said in court that she only has access to the law library for two hours once week.
"Part of the issue here is that you've elected to represent yourself," Judge Werner said to Stauch. "We talked about the burdens."
Judge Werner ultimately ordered that prosecutors must supply 1,800 pages of core evidence to Stauch while she's in jail, adding that if there were security concerns, they could be addressed later.
Read a timeline of the alleged killing here.
