Miss-Delectable
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Judge: Deaf murder suspect's rights clear :: The SouthtownStar :: News
Since a killer slashed her deaf kid sister to death in 1981, Heather Hunziker has grown accustomed to pushing - and waiting - for justice for 15-year-old Dawn Niles.
Niles, a spirited blue-eyed blonde, had recently learned she was pregnant when she was stabbed more than 30 times on St. Patrick's Day in a Cook County forest preserve in Palos Township.
"It changes who you are," said Hunziker, who along with a friend pressed Cook County cold case detectives to reopen her sister's case in early 2006.
"The arrest happens and everyone goes, 'Oh my God, you can move on,'' but really you can't. It hasn't really started yet."
Gary Albert, 47, of Sugar Grove, was charged with murder in March 2008 in the stabbing death of Niles, of LaGrange Park, who was a fellow student in a program for deaf students at Hinsdale South High School. The two dated, and Albert "was the love of her life," Hunziker said, adding that Dawn kept the pregnancy secret from her family.
Hunziker, 46, and Niles' younger brother, Mike Boston, 41, sat in the front row of a Cook County courtroom Tuesday to support Dawn, who was pregnant with Albert's child and was missing for six days when hikers found her body in the Horsetail Slough Forest Preserve near 123rd Street and 104th Avenue.
"She was determined and she was feisty and she was tough," Hunziker said. "Somebody has to be her advocate."
Albert, who wore a pale green golf shirt, khaki pants and brown docksiders to court, has pleaded innocent. He remains free on a $100,000 bond paid by his father, Jim Albert.
Police sources say DNA evidence was crucial to bringing charges against Albert 27 years after Niles' brutal murder. The evidence undermines Albert's alibi and places him with her near the time of her death, sources said.
Albert's attorneys on Tuesday unsuccessfully argued that he was not properly advised of his Miranda rights during a six-hour March 2008 interview with a Cook County sheriff's detective, at which a Chicago police officer provided sign language interpretation.
Circuit Court Judge Joan O'Brien criticized investigators for not providing a licensed American Sign Language interpreter or providing Albert with a written copy of his Miranda rights. But she ruled statements Albert made during the interview can be introduced at trial, which could begin later this year.
"It's clear to me Mr. Albert understood what (the police officer) was interpreting," O'Brien said.
But attorney Tom Breen said the defense will try in the future to have the judge reconsider. Illinois and federal law require an American Sign Language interpreter to be licensed to ensure a deaf defendant fully understands the proceedings, Breen and his partner, Todd Pugh, argued in court.
Albert is due to appear in court next on Sept. 23. A trial date has not been set.
In 2005, Albert was convicted of a misdemeanor for unlawful videotaping after setting up a video camera in his stepdaughter's bathroom. The incident prompted Albert's wife of seven years to leave him, court records show. He was spared jail and sentenced to a conditional discharge.
Since a killer slashed her deaf kid sister to death in 1981, Heather Hunziker has grown accustomed to pushing - and waiting - for justice for 15-year-old Dawn Niles.
Niles, a spirited blue-eyed blonde, had recently learned she was pregnant when she was stabbed more than 30 times on St. Patrick's Day in a Cook County forest preserve in Palos Township.
"It changes who you are," said Hunziker, who along with a friend pressed Cook County cold case detectives to reopen her sister's case in early 2006.
"The arrest happens and everyone goes, 'Oh my God, you can move on,'' but really you can't. It hasn't really started yet."
Gary Albert, 47, of Sugar Grove, was charged with murder in March 2008 in the stabbing death of Niles, of LaGrange Park, who was a fellow student in a program for deaf students at Hinsdale South High School. The two dated, and Albert "was the love of her life," Hunziker said, adding that Dawn kept the pregnancy secret from her family.
Hunziker, 46, and Niles' younger brother, Mike Boston, 41, sat in the front row of a Cook County courtroom Tuesday to support Dawn, who was pregnant with Albert's child and was missing for six days when hikers found her body in the Horsetail Slough Forest Preserve near 123rd Street and 104th Avenue.
"She was determined and she was feisty and she was tough," Hunziker said. "Somebody has to be her advocate."
Albert, who wore a pale green golf shirt, khaki pants and brown docksiders to court, has pleaded innocent. He remains free on a $100,000 bond paid by his father, Jim Albert.
Police sources say DNA evidence was crucial to bringing charges against Albert 27 years after Niles' brutal murder. The evidence undermines Albert's alibi and places him with her near the time of her death, sources said.
Albert's attorneys on Tuesday unsuccessfully argued that he was not properly advised of his Miranda rights during a six-hour March 2008 interview with a Cook County sheriff's detective, at which a Chicago police officer provided sign language interpretation.
Circuit Court Judge Joan O'Brien criticized investigators for not providing a licensed American Sign Language interpreter or providing Albert with a written copy of his Miranda rights. But she ruled statements Albert made during the interview can be introduced at trial, which could begin later this year.
"It's clear to me Mr. Albert understood what (the police officer) was interpreting," O'Brien said.
But attorney Tom Breen said the defense will try in the future to have the judge reconsider. Illinois and federal law require an American Sign Language interpreter to be licensed to ensure a deaf defendant fully understands the proceedings, Breen and his partner, Todd Pugh, argued in court.
Albert is due to appear in court next on Sept. 23. A trial date has not been set.
In 2005, Albert was convicted of a misdemeanor for unlawful videotaping after setting up a video camera in his stepdaughter's bathroom. The incident prompted Albert's wife of seven years to leave him, court records show. He was spared jail and sentenced to a conditional discharge.