Julia Gutierrez of Geneva remains on suicide watch at the Kane County Jail, meaning she hasn’t been allowed to shower or brush her teeth since her arrest on charges she murdered her husband with a drugged smoothie.
Gutierrez’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Julia Yetter, offered those details as part of an objection to Kane County Judge D.J. Tegeler’s decision to allow a still photographer to be present during a brief hearing Thursday which marked Gutierrez’s first formal appearance since bond court last week. Gutierrez, 53, was ordered held without bail on allegations she mixed sleeping pills into the drink she gave to her 53-year-old husband, Eduardo.
Geneva police were called to the Gutierrez’s home on Crissey Avenue Jan. 28 for a well-being check. Responding officers found Eduardo Gutierrez dead in the living room and his wife unconscious in a bedroom, according to prosecutors, who added police also discovered a note. In court documents filed in advance of Gutierrez’s Feb. 3 bond hearing, prosecutors said she, at some point between Jan. 26 and 28, put a “lethal amount” of temazepam in her husband’s drink before giving herself a high dose of the drug “in an effort to kill herself.”
Julia Gutierrez was hospitalized until being transferred to the jail when charges were authorized early last week.
On Thursday, Yetter told Tegeler that she had not received proper notification of a request for extended media coverage of the status hearing.
“I had no opportunity to make a written objection,” Yetter said.
Yetter went on to say Gutierrez, who appeared in court in a green jail jumpsuit, has not had an opportunity to perform basic grooming activities because she is on suicide watch. Yetter suggested such photos of Gutierrez could be “disruptive and damaging.”
“These photos will appear … everywhere throughout this case, sensationalizing this case,” Yetter said.
The photographer who was granted access to Thursday’s hearing shot photos as Gutierrez entered and exited the courtroom, and while she briefly turned to speak with Yetter in front of Tegeler’s bench. As is usual for a busy court call, several attorneys milled around the courtroom and through the line of sight from the spectator gallery – where the photographer and others were situated – to where Gutierrez and attorneys stood before Tegeler.
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Tegeler upheld his ruling to allow the photographer access for still photos, but not video, to be taken during the hearing.
Gutierrez is scheduled to return to court March 9.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News