Leticia Stauch - pro se defense

[FiveAcres]

I am not sure how much national coverage Colorado vs Leticia Stauch is getting. She is accused of killing her eleven year old stepson and then transporting his remains in a suitcase to Florida, where the remains were discovered by the road by a highway worker. She was accused of attacking one of the officers who were transporting her back to Colorado after she was arrested in South Carolina. She spent a goodly amount of time in the Pueblo Mental Health Facility where she was found competent to assist in her defense after several evaluations. However, she was unable to work with her public defenders and the judge in her case reluctantly agreed that she could defend herself.

Now she has had her law library privileges revoked.

https://www.kktv.com/2021/04/26/stepmom ... r-defense/

Does anyone here want to speculate what the judge will do next in this case? What can the judge do next in this case?

[LM K]

Stauch is not receiving adequate mental health treatment. However, if she's competent enough to help her defense, she's considered competent to make her own decisions. Psychiatrists are extremely thorough when establishing competency.

Mental health treatment is non-existent in jails and prisons. The is highly disturbing because jails and prisons are America's largest facilities for the mentally ill. 37% of those in prison and 44% of those in jail have a current or previous mental health problems.

I suspect the judge will further press Stauch to accept legal help when she appears in court. If she files for an extension for her May hearing due to her lack of access to the library, she's likely to get it. I wonder if the judge will order those at the jail to allow her access to the library under the condition that she agrees to cooperate.

[pipistrelle]

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office revoked Stauch’s access to the library for 90 days April 8 after she twice refused to use her scheduled library time, violating the jail’s rules, recent court filings show.

Stauch, 37, also asked that her name be removed from the schedule after her second refusal, sheriff’s officials said.

[bob]

However, if she's competent enough to help her defense, she's considered competent to make her own decisions.

The standards for competency to stand trial and an intelligent waiver of assistance of counsel are different. It is possible to thread the needle and find a defendant competent enough to stand trial but not "competent" enough for self-representation.

These scenarios, however, have so much reversible error baked into them: the judge getting it wrong on either of these two calls can get a conviction tossed. The self-representation, especially: regardless of the ruling, appellate counsel will argue it was wrong.

[LM K]

However, if she's competent enough to help her defense, she's considered competent to make her own decisions.

The standards for competency to stand trial and an intelligent waiver of assistance of counsel are different. It is possible to thread the needle and find a defendant competent enough to stand trial but not "competent" enough for self-representation.

These scenarios, however, have so much reversible error baked into them: the judge getting it wrong on either of these two calls can get a conviction tossed. The self-representation, especially: regardless of the ruling, appellate counsel will argue it was wrong.

Thank you, Bob! I didn't know that there were different levels of competency. That's a really good thing.

[FiveAcres]

Thanks for the responses. It is really hard to see how this case can go to trial with Stauch acting as her own defense attorney without being a complete travesty.

[Maybenaut]

Thanks for the responses. It is really hard to see how this case can go to trial with Stauch acting as her own defense attorney without being a complete travesty.

I wonder how many people who represented themselves have been acquitted in the entire history of the United States. You could probably count them on one hand, possibly by making a circle with your thumb and fingers.

Edit: Nevermind. According to this article, pro se criminal defendants can sometimes fare as well as represented defendants.

https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/ ... ext=fac_pm

[FiveAcres]

Leticia Stauch has now requested counsel but doesn't want her former public defenders. I bet the judge is wondering what he did to deserve this case.

[John Thomas8]

Verdict today: