Leitner was honored by the Associated Press Managing Editors for stories she did when she was a police reporter for the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Arizona.

[7] Leitner joined the news staff of KPHO, the CBS affiliate in Phoenix, Arizona, as a crime reporter on September 3, 2002.

She has won twelve Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards - the first in 2004 for a piece she did on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's notorious tent city, the second in 2006 for a breaking news story, her third in 2007 for continuing coverage of an investigative story, and her fourth and fifth for a weeklong series called "Assault on Arizona", which focused on crime and illegal immigration issues at the Arizona-Mexico border.

[13] Leitner was initially placed on the Rotu tribe, alongside Gabriel Cade, John Carroll, Robert DeCanio, Neleh Dennis, Paschal English, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien and Zoe Zanidakis.

Leitner remained on Rotu alongside Cade, Carroll, DeCanio, and Zanidakis, now joined by Rob Mariano, Sean Rector and Vecepia Towery.