Spencer Wilson, KKTV

He is a reporter with CBS4.

He has never testified before.
Regarding his training/education: he has a degree from University of Missouri in broadcast journalism and 10+ years of experience as a TV reporter.
He is a multimedia journalist. He does video and audio, calls himself a “one man band”.
By January 2020 he had done thousands of on camera interviews.
They were on the sidewalk covering a search in the neighborhood that day and saw a big moving truck or utility van and a car pulling out of the neighborhood. They rolled down the window and started to chastise him for the way he was covering the story - it was Letecia. He said they could talk about it.
It took him about 5 seconds to realize it was her.
She was angry that he and other members of the media were there; she said he was doing it wrong.
They drove to an empty lot for the interview; she had a clip on microphone on.
Letecia’s only condition was that her face wasn’t on camera, it was his idea to have her back to the camera so it could still be watchable on TV.
The clip-on microphone will pick up audio even when someone walks out of the frame.
His newsroom was ecstatic that he got this interview; his goal was to keep her talking.
Part of his training at the University of Missouri was to keep them continuing what they’re saying but don’t agree with it.
She seemed more focused on how she was being perceived publicly than helping find Gannon; he spoke to neighbors who had more concern for Gannon.
Exhibit 334 is a disc with an interview on it.
The interview with Letecia and Spencer is played.
He points out the defendant as the person he was interviewing, Letecia Stauch.
He believes Letecia was of sound mind.
The defense objects but Judge Werner says he can give an opinion of what he thought of her mental state at the time.
She was able to give coherent answers, she was driving a car and following the rules of the road.
The prosecution replays a portion of the interview where Letecia switches from talking about Gannon in the present tense to past tense.
The prosecution asks if he felt the switch was important, defense objects and it is sustained.
After the interview, Letecia got back into the driver’s seat of the car and drove away.

Cross Examination

Letecia said she didn’t want her face on camera because she had concerns for her safety.

Juror question:

Did the defendant immediately stop crying after the interview? Yes. Quicker than a normal person.
Did her demeanor change following the interview?: Yes.

Defense followup

He says that the camera didn’t stop immediately after the interview but the microphone was removed and he left the scene.
Her demeanor change would have been outside of the view of the camera.