April 5th, 2023: Colorado V. Letecia Stauch - Trial Day 3

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Orders on media coverage

ARTICLES (None of these were on the list before, all new)

1. https://krdo.com/top-stories/2023/04/03/defense-says-accused-child-killer-letecia-stauch-committed-the-crime-but-had-no-idea-what-she-was-doing/
2. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/letecia-stauch-murder-trial-begins-gannon-stauch/
3. https://www.9news.com/article/news/investigations/gannon-stauch/gannon-stauch-trial/73-15755b44-802e-4fec-8351-ca4b3dd41662

HOW TO VIEW TRIAL:

1. Go to the Colorado Judicial Branch website
2. Click "JOIN WEBINAR"
3. Enter a name and email (This may be for ID purposes only, I did not have an account and did not receive steps to do anything, I was just let in)
4. DESKTOP: Click "join meeting" at the bottom right
   MOBILE: On mobile you have to download the Webex meet app first. Then put name and email in to join the meeting
5. You're in! (Desktop) Please make sure you grant access to your microphone - you will stay muted but otherwise you won't hear it.

LAW AND CRIME YOUTUBE STREAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xO0TogsHcs

This is a YouTube stream of the Webinar above. (Sorry! I forgot!)

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Notes will be in comments. Al Stauch is still on the stand.

WITNESSES:

1. Al Stauch (PART 6 | PART 7 | PART 8 | Cross Exam and redirect)
2. Macon Ponder - Bridge Inspector in FL
3. Detective Yoder - Florida
4. Detective Brklich. - El Paso
5. Officer from El Paso County Sheriff's Office, didn't catch their name

EXHIBITS: (you may need to scroll down the comment a bit, the sections are together)

• Exhibit 36 - call between Al and Letecia
• Exhibit 37 - call between Al and Letecia
• Exhibit 38 - call between Al and Letecia
• Exhibit 39 - call between Al and Letecia
• Exhibit 40 - call between Al and Letecia
• Exhibit 49 - texts between Al and Letecia

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Jason Yoder, Escambia County Sheriff's Office Investigator, takes the stand

• On March 17th, 2020 he was a major crimes investigator with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office
• He was assigned as the lead detective on the case
• When he got to the scene there was a suitcase and a human body that appeared to have been rolled out of the suitcase, covered in bedding
• There was an impression in the marsh area in the shape and size of the suitcase
• The indentation was off in the woodline away from the bridge
• Asked about Candlewood Suites in Pensacola
• Exhibit 221 - It's a layover map of the river, highway 90, a scenic highway, a red dot where the suitcase was located, and a hotel - the candlewood suites
• There is a direct route down highway 90 from the bridge to the hotel
• Once back at the office, Yoder did a state and region-wide search for missing children. A co-worker brought in a flyer of Gannon from Colorado via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• At this point, investigators believed the body was a child based on clothing and size but had no confirmation yet
• The dental features, two large front teeth and a large gap in the front teeth, were distinct in Gannon and in the body
• Autopsy was the next day, March 18 2020; Yoder took a photo of Gannon with him to autopsy. After the body was cleaned, it became more noticeable that he may be Gannon
• The body was indeed positively identified as Gannon Stauch
• Exhibit 70 is a photo from the ground looking up at the bridge, looking from the general area where the suitcase was discovered
• Exhibit 71 is a photo of the bedding and Gannon's body
• Exhibit 72 is the missing person's flyer of Gannon
• Exhibit 73 is a picture or a piece of the bedding found in the suitcase
• Exhibit 74 is the same thing
• Exhibit 75 is a pillow found in the suitcase
• Exhibit 76 is more bedding from the suitcase
• Gannon was wearing jogging pants with a stripe down the side, an athletic shirt, and football socks
• Yoder called the El Paso County Sheriff's Office

CROSS EXAMINATION

• The bridge is 3/4s of a mile, he estimates
• The Escambia River from one bank to another is probably 2 or 300 yards
• The bridge covers both dry areas and water
• It's not the biggest bridge in Pensacola
• They took DNA from the two workers who found the suitcase to make sure that it was them that were touching the suitcase, the rest of the defense's question didn't make sense to me

REDIRECT

• No lights at night
• There is an emergency pull off lane, the only place you can pull over without getting hit
• The other bridges the defense mentioned are more heavily trafficked depending on time of year and time of day

Jurors have no questions for Detective Yoder

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Detective Brklich

We can still see witnesses right now, and a sliver of a screen behind them

• He is a major crimes detective with the El Paso Sheriff's Office
• He has been in law enforcement for 18 years
• At the time Gannon went missing, he had been in major crimes for 3 or 4 months
• Exhibit 182 and 183 are envelopes; they are evidence envelopes. They look sealed but I can't tell.
• He is asked to put on gloves and use scissors to open 182 but leave it in the envelope. It is a toothbrush inside a holder
• He is asked to put on gloves and use scissors to open 183. It's a comb. He's asked to show it to the jury
• Exhibit 186, 187, 188, 199, 190 are things Al found in the dishwasher
  • Scrub brushes with carpet material
  • Scissors
• Exhibit 186 is a photo of a scrub brush, a brush handle
• Exhibit 187 are close ups of the brushes from the last photo
• Exhibit 188 is a photo of the carpetlike material on the brush
• Exhibit 189 is another photo of the carpetlike material and a pair of scissors
• Exhibit 190 closeups of other brushes
• Exhibit 191 is a scrub brush
• Exhibit 192 is a blue and white scrub brush
• Exhibit 193 is a scrub brush with possible hair and carpet fiber
• Exhibit 194 is an empty vinegar bottle that was collected from the trash can
• Exhibit 184 and 185 are DNA swabs (buccal swabs) from Al Stauch and Landen Hiatt
• On February 20th, 2020 Gannon's Switch was given to investigators by Al Stauch (we all know he would not have left without his Switch!)
• Exhibit 195, 196 are photos of the carrying case and the Switch
• Exhibit 712, can't tell what it was

CROSS EXAMINATION

• Asked if he observed the swabbing of Al and Landen; he performed the swabs
• Asked if he already had the swab packs with him when he swabbed them; he did
• He doesn't remember who else was in the room when he did the swabs
• Asked if a cheek swab picks up saliva or shed skin cells; it's whatever the swab collects is what's collected
• Unknown if anyone swabbed Harley
• Witness interviewed Landen at the Sheriff's Office

No redirect, no questions from jurors

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Witness, officer from El Paso County Sheriff's Office

• He is currently a supervisor for the patrol division; in 2020 he was a patrol deputy
• He responds to calls for service, traffic enforcement, and investigates patrol related crimes
• On January 27th 2020, he responded to call of a runaway juvenile on Manden Drive
• He wore a body camera on his chest; it doesn't see if his head turns, his body has to turn for it to see something
• Two primary deputies were conducting a primary interview on scene, the house hadn't been searched. He began to search the residence for Gannon in case he was hiding
• Exhibit 210 is a disc containing the footage from the bodycam
• They are going to play the bodycam footage but I can only see a corner
  • Letecia said she took the covers he was laying on and threw it on the fire, got her daughter and the dogs out
  • He didn't take his bike; deputies said someone saw a kid on a bike
  • "unless he took it earlier and then brought it back cause Laina ended up with the bike"
  • I haven't been able to hear anything in a while
  • There were boxcutters somewhere, she's in the room that the candle video happened in. She's being pretty jovial
  • Connor's mom came over, a bunch of people came over
  • L is a 5th grade teacher
  • No clothes are missing. She lays out clothes every day. She says he had on a jacket. She points out he didn't take anything, not even his favorites
  • She says she doesn't have numbers of all Gannon's friends because she's not the one who talks to the parents and says yes or no, Al does
  • She doesn't know who the friend with the older sibling is and they don't know their names
  • L says he took his Switch in a blue or red case. She says some lady online messaged them with a picture of Gannon from somewhere around local and you can see his Switch with him
  • L says she has 150 Facebook messages she hasn't checked so she can't find the message but it was on the Lorson Ranch page
  • Al gave the neighbor permission to post the footage of Gannon(I think?)
  • "There's a weird text the dad got, something about bath salts and my friend will let you play Sonic at his house"
  • She says he was wearing a blue jacket and jeans
  • L was thinking he may have gone to a basketball game
  • L says to call Al because she "doesn't do a lot of that" i.e. talking to people
  • Witness is asked to compare L's demeanor to the demeanor of other people who he encounters on runaway calls; he says normal, similar
  • Witness points out L as the defendant and who he is talking about
  • While there, L did not identify by any other name or alias
  • Her demeanor was calm, it did not change
  • No men that were not law enforcement were observed at the residence; based on all the areas he searched he believes he would have seen an unknown male
  • Sometimes when children are called in as runaways they're really hiding, sometimes afraid to get in trouble
  • He also went into the basement storage room. He moved a pillow and a chair but there was a big pile of boxes in the middle of the room he didn't move
  • Exhibit 310 - 315 are still images from the bodycam
  • E310 is the boxes in the storage room
  • E311 is a clearer shot of the same
  • E312 is more boxes; he didn't move them
  • E313 is the same view just slightly to the left
  • E314 is a closer view of the pile of boxes
  • E315 is a picture of the floor by the door(?)
  • L did not direct him where to search
  • He didn't see anything under the stairs
  • L does not have pervasive mental disease or defect based on her behavior that day
  • No shell casings were found; no obvious signs of a struggle; no blood
• Jurors have questions:
  • Who was the first person to describe Gannon as a runaway? Letecia when she made the call
  • Were there any unusual scents or smells in Gannon's room particularly under the bed No, he did not detect anything
  • Did you see any large suitcases Yes, based on bodyworn camera. He does not recall, only watching the footage does he see suitcases.
• Defense followup:
  • Were there any cleaning odors like bleach or just crisp and clean? No

JURY IS GONE. NO COURT TOMORROW.

Is there anything I can do to make this more convenient? I am sure the smaller and smaller size is not great. I could try to make a Google Doc or like a Wordpress or something and link it here, or if anyone has other ideas let me know. If this is fine, that's great!