Miss-Delectable
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AP Wire | 09/12/2006 | Lawyers argue deafness to blame for accused killer's confusion
It's borderline whether a Sioux Falls deaf woman accused of killing and dismembering another deaf woman can understand what's going on in the courtroom, a defense witness testified Tuesday in a motions hearing for Daphne Wright.
Wright, 43, has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, first-degree murder and murder while committing a felony for the slaying of Darlene Kay VanderGiesen, 42, also of Sioux Falls, this past winter.
The defense witness, McCay Vernon of Florida, said Wright reads at the third-grade level but either was deaf at birth or at 10 months of age, when she came down with rubella.
The rubella may have caused some brain damage, Vernon said.
Circuit Judge Bradley Zell concluded that Wright could understand what's happening in the courtroom, which has been outfitted with screens that show the court reporter's transcription.
Also, interpreters for the deaf were on duty at the motions hearing.
Wright's lawyers argue that she didn't understand her legal rights in a police interview because of her disability.
An autopsy determined that VanderGiesen, who had disappeared Feb. 1, was killed by either suffocation or a blow to the head. Wright was arrested Feb. 10 after a search of her basement yielded bone fragments, muscle and fat that matched DNA taken from VanderGiesen's toothbrush, according to court papers.
Investigators found VanderGiesen's legs and lower torso in a landfill. Later, road workers found the rest of her body in a ditch near Beaver Creek, Minn.
After she was arrested, Wright told police she suspected VanderGiesen was trying to break up her long-term relationship with her girlfriend, according to a police affidavit.
It's borderline whether a Sioux Falls deaf woman accused of killing and dismembering another deaf woman can understand what's going on in the courtroom, a defense witness testified Tuesday in a motions hearing for Daphne Wright.
Wright, 43, has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, first-degree murder and murder while committing a felony for the slaying of Darlene Kay VanderGiesen, 42, also of Sioux Falls, this past winter.
The defense witness, McCay Vernon of Florida, said Wright reads at the third-grade level but either was deaf at birth or at 10 months of age, when she came down with rubella.
The rubella may have caused some brain damage, Vernon said.
Circuit Judge Bradley Zell concluded that Wright could understand what's happening in the courtroom, which has been outfitted with screens that show the court reporter's transcription.
Also, interpreters for the deaf were on duty at the motions hearing.
Wright's lawyers argue that she didn't understand her legal rights in a police interview because of her disability.
An autopsy determined that VanderGiesen, who had disappeared Feb. 1, was killed by either suffocation or a blow to the head. Wright was arrested Feb. 10 after a search of her basement yielded bone fragments, muscle and fat that matched DNA taken from VanderGiesen's toothbrush, according to court papers.
Investigators found VanderGiesen's legs and lower torso in a landfill. Later, road workers found the rest of her body in a ditch near Beaver Creek, Minn.
After she was arrested, Wright told police she suspected VanderGiesen was trying to break up her long-term relationship with her girlfriend, according to a police affidavit.
Reform is badly needed.
i would know cuz i went to deaf school and found that the books they shown to me was very easy and i was like huh? I asked about that and found out they are slow learners or have problems. Maybe due to lousy education? who knows!