Burn, Letecia

[Jersey Girl]

Trial related point I keep meaning to bring up. Insanity defenses can vary significantly from state to state. I read an article by a criminal defense attorney that the insanity defense isn’t really a defense in Colorado. Once the defendant pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, the prosecution has the burden to prove that the defendant was sane when she committed the crime. Not only that, the burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt.

Dr. T does not have to prove she was insane. She doesn’t need to put on any evidence at all. All she has to do is convince the jury that there is reasonable doubt as to her sanity at the time she killed G.

Understood. NGRI doesn't need to be proven. It needs to be disproven.

That makes the defense strategy much more understandable. “If even the experts can’t agree, there is reasonable doubt.” Expect that in closing arguments.

Eeegads. The cross by the defense with the last expert yesterday started poking holes in her assessment which I mentioned above in what passed for my review from Friday. So yeah, I am sure they'll bring that up and that's the direction they're headed in because let's face it, psych is kind of a nebulous thing to try to latch onto and box in to start with. Prosecution wraps mid-day-ish on Monday, then on with the Defense.

I think I'll try to set aside time to review the poking of holes before Monday.

[Res Ipsa]

Trial related point I keep meaning to bring up. Insanity defenses can vary significantly from state to state. I read an article by a criminal defense attorney that the insanity defense isn’t really a defense in Colorado. Once the defendant pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, the prosecution has the burden to prove that the defendant was sane when she committed the crime. Not only that, the burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt.

Dr. T does not have to prove she was insane. She doesn’t need to put on any evidence at all. All she has to do is convince the jury that there is reasonable doubt as to her sanity at the time she killed G.

Understood. NGRI doesn't need to be proven. It needs to be disproven.

That makes the defense strategy much more understandable. “If even the experts can’t agree, there is reasonable doubt.” Expect that in closing arguments.

Eeegads. The cross by the defense with the last expert yesterday started poking holes in her assessment which I mentioned above in what passed for my review from Friday. So yeah, I am sure they'll bring that up and that's the direction they're headed in because let's face it, psych is kind of a nebulous thing to try to latch onto and box in to start with. Prosecution wraps mid-day-ish on Monday, then on with the Defense.

I think I'll try to set aside time to review the poking of holes before Monday.

Your comment about poking holes is what reminded me to post this information. Knowing that all the defense has to do is create reasonable doubt helps understand the dynamics of the trial.

[Jersey Girl]

Understood. NGRI doesn't need to be proven. It needs to be disproven.



Eeegads. The cross by the defense with the last expert yesterday started poking holes in her assessment which I mentioned above in what passed for my review from Friday. So yeah, I am sure they'll bring that up and that's the direction they're headed in because let's face it, psych is kind of a nebulous thing to try to latch onto and box in to start with. Prosecution wraps mid-day-ish on Monday, then on with the Defense.

I think I'll try to set aside time to review the poking of holes before Monday.

Your comment about poking holes is what reminded me to post this information. Knowing that all the defense has to do is create reasonable doubt helps understand the dynamics of the trial.

Sure does! Thank you!

I wanted to say too, that the jury asks such thoughtful and intelligent questions. I'm really impressed by them!

[Jersey Girl]

Day 17 Teaser

Catching up with the trial before I go out for most of the day. You might remember that after Gannon was reported missing, Ring Doorbell camera footage from the nextdoor neighbor's house was released showing him leaving with Stepmonster to go to Petco and then when they returned, Gannon would have been on the other side and it was hard to tell if he returned with her. We thought we could see a shadow which would have indicated him exiting the vehicle.

Today we are looking at home security camera footage that has never been released to the public. It's from across the street that shows the driveway and garage almost head on.

More later as I have time to go back and watch the replay. If anyone else is watching please comment on what you've seen from today. It will take me a while to catch up.

That is all.

[Jersey Girl]

If anyone wants to watch...I think the prosecution is wrapping and started doing it before lunch break. If you want to see what they're doing (which is highly effective in my opinion) start watching the trial on Crime Talk (Scott Reisch) after the first morning break and continue on.

I can't timestamp it because it's still being live streamed. A good idea is to shut down the chat. There's no moderator for a live stream with what looks to be over 2K people watching on the channel and you'll feel distracted and ticked off by troll comments. Just close it.

Offering this tip because I don't think I'll be back here until much later today. If interested in seeing the case essentially laid out end to end, just start after that morning break and you'll be in the right place to see it. I don't think you'll feel that your time was wasted. Instead, I think you'll feel you've got an extremely good handle on the events and all the activity that took place.

Super good presentation I think!

[Jersey Girl]

Day 18 Teaser

It's getting intense.

[Jersey Girl]

Day 17 Teaser

Catching up with the trial before I go out for most of the day. You might remember that after Gannon was reported missing, Ring Doorbell camera footage from the nextdoor neighbor's house was released showing him leaving with Stepmonster to go to Petco and then when they returned, Gannon would have been on the other side and it was hard to tell if he returned with her. We thought we could see a shadow which would have indicated him exiting the vehicle.

Today we are looking at home security camera footage that has never been released to the public. It's from across the street that shows the driveway and garage almost head on.

More later as I have time to go back and watch the replay. If anyone else is watching please comment on what you've seen from today. It will take me a while to catch up.

That is all.

Brief recap of yesterday. I prepared a lengthy post later last night to describe what happened and promptly lost it--chrome book keyboard/fingers problem.

What the prosecution did for most of the day was go through a visual timeline that I thought was impressive. It included dates/times, texts, photos, videos, car rentals, essentially everything that happened from before Gannon went missing until his body was found in Florida. I don't think I've seen such a presentation in a trial before so I thought it was very effective and as I said, impressive.

The latter part of the day gave another type of timeline for the same period of time only using Stepmonster's online searches to support the chronology. Just briefly, after Gannon was killed here is a random sampling of her searches.

Fake polygraph website
How to get a face transplant
How to change your finger prints
Drug Cartel activity in Mexico and Colorado
How fake calls from Mexico
How to get a new social security number
How to get a new passport
Living on a reservation
Types of crimes and penalties
Find a rich guy (several searches of this kind leading up to and following Gannon's death)
How long does it take a dead body to decompose
What does a dead body look like after a month
How does the FBI to find someone?*

*exchange between expert witness and DA:

Witness: How does the FBI to find someone?
DA: Did she find out?
Witness: She sure did

All total I think the prosecution presented effectively.

[Jersey Girl]

Day 18

Prosecution rested.

Defense begins.

Defense calls expert witness, Dorothy Lewis who is a doctor of psychiatry--you can google search her up. She's good and has presented in other significant cases, published, etc.

Without going into every little detail (I just finished the live stream, I'm done-done) I have to say...Dr. Lewis swayed me in the defendant's favor. She shared events in the defendants early life and how those could result in DID, she did NOT say that Liemother has DID and I'll explain why shortly. Also described the characteristics of psychosis, DID diagnoses, she actually believes she spoke to Maria Sanchez (the sniper/protector who is violent) only she said (grain of salt here) that Maria spoke with what sounded like a Russian accent, not in Russian language, but "sounded" Russian. (Hold that thought)

Her determination was that Liemother met the criteria for insanity at the time of the murder due to psychosis and possible DID.

The reason she couldn't say with any amount of certainty that Liemother has DID was because the State of Colorado refused to administer the types of testing (brain function) due to funding issues that she requested. (Hold that thought, too) She DID say that it was her opinion that the defendant was meeting the criteria for DID and that it was also her opinion that she met the criteria for psychosis.

The attorney for the prosecution took over and proceeded to act like a complete a-hole to Dr. Lewis. I'm not embellishing here. It started off INTENSE. I'm sure he was doing his job but I had to pause the stream more than once to stop feeling triggered by it. He tried to get her on the ropes and confuse her, and Dr. Lewis (age 82) managed to keep her composure and reasonably answer his questions. She never once lost the ability to recall and respond, or follow up on her exact testimony. It wasn't for lack of trying on his part! When he kept pressing her about her reluctance to diagnose Liemother with DID she put it right back on him and reminded him that the State wouldn't administer the tests she requested. During the course of his questioning (and hammering) he changed his demeanor to more congenial to Dr. Lewis. I say it's because she stood her ground and didn't fall for his BS.

When he confronted her with Liemother's ability to earn her education including--Bachelors, Masters, and PhD. Dr. Lewis said it was her recollection that Liemother earned online degrees and...she almost said "Big Box" degrees...but sort of trailed off.

He pushed her about the appearance of Maria Sanchez, the one she said spoke Russian. Upon which she corrected him and reminded him that she said she sounded Russian NOT that she spoke Russian. Good job Dr. Lewis!

HOT MIC MOMENT: Happened as she was leaving the stand and could be heard saying, "What do you make of that? He lied."



I say that the presentation on the part of the defense, the cross by prosecution AND Dr. Lewis's testimony was all very effective and not a little frustrating to listen to but only because Dr. Lewis speaks slowly and formulates her responses very carefully. I ended up appreciating her approach.

I won't be home for most of tomorrow but I'll try to catch up with what took place. After how intense it got today, I wouldn't mind skipping tomorrow's replay. I am sure the prosecuting attorneys are going to go big and bad on whomever the defense calls to testify. That one attorney went full on at the witness right out of the gate. He's not the actual DA here but damn...he wasn't letting up for a good long while there! I shudder to think how DA Allen might behave! I would have been reduced to tears!

Every Thursday is no court, resumes on Friday.

[Res Ipsa]

Day 18

Prosecution rested.

Defense begins.

Defense calls expert witness, Dorothy Lewis who is a doctor of psychiatry--you can google search her up. She's good and has presented in other significant cases, published, etc.

Without going into every little detail (I just finished the live stream, I'm done-done) I have to say...Dr. Lewis swayed me in the defendant's favor. She shared events in the defendants early life and how those could result in DID, she did NOT say that Liemother has DID and I'll explain why shortly. Also described the characteristics of psychosis, DID diagnoses, she actually believes she spoke to Maria Sanchez (the sniper/protector who is violent) only she said (grain of salt here) that Maria spoke with what sounded like a Russian accent, not in Russian language, but "sounded" Russian. (Hold that thought)

Her determination was that Liemother met the criteria for insanity at the time of the murder due to psychosis and possible DID.

The reason she couldn't say with any amount of certainty that Liemother has DID was because the State of Colorado refused to administer the types of testing (brain function) due to funding issues that she requested. (Hold that thought, too) She DID say that it was her opinion that the defendant was meeting the criteria for DID and that it was also her opinion that she met the criteria for psychosis.

The attorney for the prosecution took over and proceeded to act like a complete a-hole to Dr. Lewis. I'm not embellishing here. It started off INTENSE. I'm sure he was doing his job but I had to pause the stream more than once to stop feeling triggered by it. He tried to get her on the ropes and confuse her, and Dr. Lewis (age 82) managed to keep her composure and reasonably answer his questions. She never once lost the ability to recall and respond, or follow up on her exact testimony. It wasn't for lack of trying on his part! When he kept pressing her about her reluctance to diagnose Liemother with DID she put it right back on him and reminded him that the State wouldn't administer the tests she requested. During the course of his questioning (and hammering) he changed his demeanor to more congenial to Dr. Lewis. I say it's because she stood her ground and didn't fall for his BS.

When he confronted her with Liemother's ability to earn her education including--Bachelors, Masters, and PhD. Dr. Lewis said it was her recollection that Liemother earned online degrees and...she almost said "Big Box" degrees...but sort of trailed off.

He pushed her about the appearance of Maria Sanchez, the one she said spoke Russian. Upon which she corrected him and reminded him that she said she sounded Russian NOT that she spoke Russian. Good job Dr. Lewis!

HOT MIC MOMENT: Happened as she was leaving the stand and could be heard saying, "What do you make of that? He lied."



I say that the presentation on the part of the defense, the cross by prosecution AND Dr. Lewis's testimony was all very effective and not a little frustrating to listen to but only because Dr. Lewis speaks slowly and formulates her responses very carefully. I ended up appreciating her approach.

I won't be home for most of tomorrow but I'll try to catch up with what took place. After how intense it got today, I wouldn't mind skipping tomorrow's replay. I am sure the prosecuting attorneys are going to go big and bad on whomever the defense calls to testify. That one attorney went full on at the witness right out of the gate. He's not the actual DA here but damn...he wasn't letting up for a good long while there! I shudder to think how DA Allen might behave! I would have been reduced to tears!

Every Thursday is no court, resumes on Friday.

Interesting. I think the prosecution may have screwed up by not performing the requested testing. They have the burden to prove not insane by a reasonable doubt.

The prosecution gets to put on rebuttal after the defense rests. It will be interesting to see what they do to push back on the idea that the failure to do the requested testing is not, in and of itself, is a compelling reason to find reasonable doubt.

[Jersey Girl]

RI I had my eyes on something related earlier and I have no idea where it went off to in my online travels. I think it was something to do with a too-late request for the testing? Don't take that as gospel but it contained statements from the DA's office that it was an insult. I didn't hear anything today about a too-late request so it might've been something else.

Anyway, I will try to remember to watch for what you said at the end. I'm glad you read my summary because I wouldn't have seen it that way on the heels of watching the live stream because I get too caught up in it and when it's done, I want to wash my hands of it because it's typically exhausting to listen to. I hardly take any time to reflect on what I've seen and heard.

When I have a day at home I take the computer around with me while doing other things and listen to it start to finish. They had a big break today due to Dr. Lewis not being able to arrive in court on time. I forget what the reason was.

You are right, the State should have met the request to do the testing. I think it was an EEG and there might have been more than one. But not only did they not do it in a timely manner (when it mattered according to Dr. Lewis) they didn't do it at all and claimed poverty.

TIP: Never watch the chat roll when watching the trial. They often have no mods on a live stream and today the chat was constantly age shaming Dr. Lewis. I shut it off of course. I found her testimony compelling but I might be more apt to pay attention to a witness like her. Later, I saw someone in chat (when I came back from a break to pause for my own sanity and the chat came up) commenting on how Dr. Lewis said the defense was lying when it was the DA--hot mic event. Watching chat will tick you off and it's a total waste of time. Full of people not paying attention and trolls trying to provoke. It's not like that on Scott's live's because he has mods on duty, but with the stream going for 7 hours it's like I describe.