Letecia Stauch trial: Forensic psychologist explains 'unusual' not guilty by reason of insanity plea

May 2—As the end of Letecia Stauch's trial draws near, the jury will soon be forced to answer the question of her sanity, and will have two drastically different reports to contend with.

One expert claims that Stauch suffers from dissociative identity disorder and was insane when she allegedly killed Gannon. The other claims Stauch does not suffer from dissociative identity disorder, was sane when she allegedly killed Gannon, and that she highly suspects Stauch may have been faking her symptoms entirely.

On Tuesday, the defense got the chance to call its first witness of the trial after nearly five full weeks of testimony, and the long-awaited testimony of the defense's expert, Dr. Dorothy Lewis, began.

Lewis, who conducted the sanity examination for the defense, is a clinical psychiatrist who used to teach at New York University and Yale University and whose research was described as "groundbreaking" by her attorney. She also was the subject of the HBO documentary "Crazy, Not Insane."

Lewis concluded that Stauch was insane at the time she allegedly killed Gannon, and that she suffers from dissociative identity disorder, vastly contrasting with the findings of Dr. Loandra Torres, a forensic psychologist who works at Colorado's state hospital in Pueblo, who testified for the prosecution last week.

"She was psychotic at the time, not in touch with reality, and I don't think she knew the difference between right and wrong. I don't even know if she knew what she was doing," Lewis said.

Max Wachtel, a forensic psychologist based in Denver who has conducted several sanity evaluations in criminal cases in Colorado, spoke with The Gazette this week and discussed the abnormalities in Stauch's case.

Wachtel said that it is actually incredibly common for two experts to have a difference in opinion on sanity reports in a criminal case.

"It comes down to a credibility contest — which expert does the jury believe more?" Wachtel explained. "Usually, you can find two credible experts who will conclude differently on sanity."

What makes the Stauch case much more abnormal, according to Wachtel, is the major difference at which the two experts disagree.

Wachtel explained that usually when sanity is brought up in a criminal case, it's because there is a clear and well-documented history of severe mental illness with the defendant, and that the existence of the mental illness is not disputed by the prosecution or its expert.

Wachtel pointed to the trial of James Holmes, the Colorado man who shot and killed 12 people in an Aurora movie theater in 2012. Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to all charges, and during his trial, according to Wachtel, Holmes' issues with mental illness were never disputed by the prosecution.

"Usually, if somebody has raised the defense of not guilty by reason of insanity, it's because something is there. The person probably does have a mental illness," Wachtel said. "That was the case with the Aurora theater shooting. It was very clear the shooter had severe mental illness. Nobody was claiming he was faking that, and that's typically what you see in insanity defenses."

Holmes was found guilty on all charges in 2015.

The Stauch case differs from most sanity cases, with Torres and the prosecution both heavily disputing that Stauch suffers from any severe mental illness at all, while the defense and Lewis claim she suffers from an incredibly serious mental illness.

"We began to wonder if she was exaggerating," Torres said during her testimony on Thursday. "All of it seems a bit farfetched to me in terms of dissociative identity disorder."

On Tuesday, Lewis testified that she had diagnosed Stauch with dissociative identity disorder, that she was "one of the most mentally ill people," she had met, and that she actually spoke with one of Stauch's alleged personalities.

Lewis claimed that during one of her interviews, Stauch had taken on the "Maria" personality, which Stauch claimed was the one who killed Gannon in an interview with Torres, and spoke with a Russian accent.

Another unusual trait of Stauch's trial is the lack of evidence supporting a severe mental illness from the defendant, something Wachtel described as "incredibly unusual for an insanity plea." Wachtel explained that often in cases where sanity is the defense, there will be major evidence to show that the defendant had a documented history of mental illness before the incident.

"It's really unusual, especially for somebody who is claiming (dissociative identity disorder)," Wachtel said. "For that person to have never been diagnosed with PTSD, or to never mention anything to a primary care physician, that's unusual. That's a huge hurdle the defense will have to get over."

On Tuesday, the defense's first witness, Dr. Ronda Niederhauser, testified that while she diagnosed Stauch with anxiety in 2019, she did not believe Stauch suffered from any severe mental illnesses either time they met, less than two months before Stauch allegedly killed Gannon.

"If I had concerns about her ... I would have placed her on a 72-hour hold," Niederhauser said during cross-examination.

Additionally, over the course of the trial, the prosecution has asked numerous witnesses, including Torres, their thoughts on Stauch's sanity, and all have stated they don't believe Stauch had ever suffered from any severe or debilitating mental illness.

Torres on Friday told the prosecution one of the key reasons she found Stauch to be unreliable — and one of the key reasons she didn't diagnose dissociative identity disorder — was the lack of any of Stauch's family members claiming they knew of her multiple personalities.

"She talks about having this mental illness since she was 16 years old, and it's never repeated anywhere," Torres said on Friday regarding the lack of corroborating evidence from those who know Stauch. "That's meaningful to me."

Lewis, who said she didn't speak with any of Stauch's family members, testified during cross-examination that the importance of what the family says is less relevant to her because they have reasons to not be entirely truthful.

"I find what they do when nobody is watching is more impactful," Lewis said during cross-examination.

One of the few points agreed upon by both sets of experts is that dissociative identity disorder, previously known as multiple personality disorder, is an extremely controversial diagnosis. Wachtel, who said he has diagnosed people with dissociative identity disorder in the past, stated that the reason for that is twofold: There are numerous people who dispute that dissociative identity disorder is even a real mental health condition; and defendants often lie about having it in criminal cases.

"Dissociative identity disorder is one of the most faked mental illnesses when it comes to sanity evaluations," Watchel said. "If somebody is going to fake it, they typically either claim a fake psychosis or multiple personalities."

Lewis' cross-examination, conducted by prosecutor Dave Young, ended the day on Tuesday and was some of the most heated testimony of the trial thus far. During the cross-examination, Young accused Lewis of conducting a sanity examination that was not thorough, of being biased, and that she has a "disregard for court rules."

Lewis, who is over 90 years old and uses a wheelchair, arrived late to court this afternoon, and also did not turn in her sanity report to the court until four days before jury selection.

Lewis was clearly unhappy with Young's line of questioning, and stated numerous times that she stands by the findings of her sanity report and that she doesn't determine sanity for a paycheck.

Lewis' cross-examination will continue on Wednesday morning, where Young told the court he intends to play footage from Stauch's interview with Lewis to the jury.