Judge Todd Plewe, presiding in the second division in the Montezuma County Combined Courts, denied a defense request Thursday to disqualify District Attorney Jeremy Reed and special prosecutor Christina Donahue in the murder case against Cortez woman Rachel Leonard.
Leonard was indicted last August on a first-degree murder charge in the 2022 death of her 5-year-old daughter, Annika Sandoval-Leonard.
The ruling came after lengthy arguments surrounding Leonard’s medical records, which have already been excluded from the upcoming murder trial.
Several motions were argued during the pretrial proceeding that lasted all of Thursday in a 22nd Judicial District courtroom. The proceeding was not meant to weigh Leonard’s innocence or guilt but rather determine what’s allowed at her early-October trial.
Previous and recent hearings centered on Leonard’s bond, which was reduced in January, and discussions on evidence, from the 6,000 pages of state discovery to a recently surfaced genetic test. The defense has argued three genetic markers support a medical reason for Annika’s “undetermined” cause and manner of death, findings which make up the autopsy.
On Thursday, Leonard's attorneys argued medical records were obtained improperly by a Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office detective and proceeded to permeate the investigation so extensively that prosecutors should be removed from the case.
“We understand this is a high burden of proof. This, however, extends far greater than anything. We are sure that Ms. Leonard is not likely to receive a fair trial with Reed and Donahue,” defense attorney Benjamin Currier told the court Thursday.
Related to this, the defense issued subpoenas for Reed and Donahue to testify during the motions hearing about the medical records. County attorney Stephen Tarnowski, representing the prosecutors, successfully argued to quash the subpoenas, meaning Reed and Donahue did not have to testify.
Plewe pointed out the state included the medical records in discovery. Donahue is with the Attorney General’s Office, which became involved in the case in 2024 and told detectives they could not use Leonard’s medical records. That direction was memorialized in a July 2024 email also provided in discovery.
“It was a needle within a 6000-page discovery, and it's lucky we found it,” Currier said.
Prosecutors additionally provided a list of people who reviewed the medical records. Reed said they couldn’t quite delete the records from the county server, given one reason is they would fall in danger of potentially deleting exculpatory evidence, which the judge said he agreed with.
“I hadn't thought about them much because frankly they weren't being used,” Reed told the court. “Deleting these records is much more a large process than you would think. It shuts down one server on our system and another backup server. My IT has offered that this is much more of a undertaking than you would imagine.”
While Plewe rejected the defense disqualification motion, he didn’t dismiss underlying issues with these records.
“I don't disagree. These medical records are problematic,” Plewe said.
Yet the question of whether the prosecutors had a personal interest requiring their removal, Plewe added, “I just don’t see that here.”
The request was denied after 2½ hours where testimony from detectives with the sheriff’s office took the bulk of that time.
During a slate of afternoon motions, the defense transitioned to challenge how law enforcement entered the residence the day Annika died March 29, 2022.
The court watched officer body-worn camera footage showing what the first on-scene deputy encountered inside the home belonging to Leonard’s parents.
The video captured several dynamics: medical responders working on a young child, then addressing her distressed mother, and then the onset of the back-bedroom area becoming an early-stage homicide investigation.
Leonard’s mother was told by a medical responder, “They're gonna be asking a lot of questions with everything that is going on,” after advising her that Leonard needed to be transported for further medical care.
Defense Attorney John Moran’s main argument was to suppress evidence during this time.
He argued Leonard’s parents initially called 911 and later showed courtesy toward EMS and law enforcement officials, but they were never informed they had an option to refuse consent after the emergency ended. He argued a detective had already entered the home when seeking permission from Leonard’s father.
Reed played additional officer-worn camera footage that showed then-lead detective Yvonne McClellan introducing herself and asking Leonard’s father for permission to take pictures and investigate, which he granted.
Plewe said he would issue judgment in writing.
A second day for motions is scheduled for Aug. 31. Leonard’s trial is scheduled to start Oct. 7.
awatson@the-journal.com
