Letecia Stauch, the woman accused of first-degree murder in the killing of her stepson, 11-year-old Gannon Stauch, heads into court Friday for what is likely to be a closed-door hearing about her request for new attorneys.

Stauch, 38, is to appear at 2:30 p.m. before 4th Judicial District Chief Judge Will Bain. If Stauch requests new attorneys, as expected, the judge will close the courtroom to everyone except the defendant and her lawyers, Bain’s clerk said — a standard measure because the hearings tend to delve into privileged communications between defendants and their attorneys.

Judge: Letecia Stauch, stepmother of slain 11-year-old Gannon Stauch, competent for trial

The hearing comes a month after one of Stauch’s public defenders relayed her request in court for a “conflict hearing,” in which defendants generally assert a conflict of interest with their legal team severe enough to merit severing ties and getting new lawyers.

Stauch’s attorneys followed up Jan. 25 with a formal motion requesting the conflict hearing. That motion is under court seal and will not be released, state court spokesman Rob McCallum said.

Such requests are usually overseen by a judge unaffiliated with the case because they may require defendants to share information that could affect their defense. The requests are widely interpreted as a delay tactic and generally face long odds, retired Denver defense attorney Phil Cherner said.

“I think the judges have a sense that if they grant a lot of these motions, they’re just going to get more of them,” he said. “They lean against granting them when they walk in the room.”

To win new attorneys, Stauch must demonstrate there has been a disqualifying conflict of interest with her legal team or an “irretrievable” breakdown in their relationship, Cherner added.

“This is probably a dispute over strategy or whether to take a deal or whether to negotiate or whether the client is competent at not,” he said. “There could be more than one issue at stake.”

Stauch lodged her request at a Jan. 19 hearing at which District Judge Gregory Werner ruled she is competent to stand trial. The finding put the case back on a normal course after a more than six-month period during which she underwent two evaluations to gauge her mental fitness. Both concluded she was mentally fit to be prosecuted.

Gannon Stauch case: Judge orders competency hearing in boy’s killing; long delay likely

Stauch is accused of killing Gannon at their Lorson Ranch home in January 2020 before dumping his body in a rural area near Highway 105 and South Perry Park Road in Douglas County.

She reported the boy missing Jan. 27, claiming Gannon didn’t return after leaving to visit a friend’s house. Authorities said Gannon was attacked that day in his bedroom.

Stauch, who denied involvement in the boy’s disappearance, was arrested March 2 in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the boy’s remains were found later that month in Santa Rosa County in the Florida panhandle, east of Pensacola. Authorities haven’t disclosed if they know how the remains were transported from Douglas County to Florida.

Stauch’s next public appearance is a two-day hearing set for March 11 and 12 in which prosecutors are to lay out the evidence against her. Werner must decide if there’s enough proof to try her on charges including first-degree murder.

The judge will also decide at the conclusion of the March hearing if Stauch, who is being held at the El Paso County jail, will be eligible for bail.