RAVENNA, Ohio (Aug. 9) - A woman who belonged to an obscure religious sect
was found innocent Friday of child endangerment for breast-feeding her
baby while driving, but was convicted of three lesser charges.
Catherine Nicole Donkers, 29, was found guilty of violating child-
restraint laws, driving without a valid driver's license and fleeing
police while on the Ohio Turnpike in May.
Prosecutors recommended Donkers be sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $500
fine instead of the maximum one year in jail and $2,000.
Judge Donald Martell said he would postpone sentencing to investigate
Donkers ``because I feel I need to know more about you.'' He issued his
ruling after closing arguments in a three-day trial and did not schedule a
sentencing date.
Child endangerment was the most serious charge she faced. Martell said his
ruling reflected state troopers' testimony that they only saw Donkers
holding the baby, not breast-feeding.
Donkers, who represented herself, and her husband, Brad Lee Barnhill,
belong to a religion they say requires Barnhill to be responsible for
punishing Donkers.
Donkers had said she did nothing wrong and was following her husband's
orders while she drove alone with the baby from Pennsylvania to Michigan.
``We are people who do not shirk from facing the consequences of our
actions. I pray that this court respects my faith,'' Donkers said in
closing arguments.
Donkers argued that as a Michigan resident, she was entitled under that
state's child restraint law to breast-feed while driving, even though she
was driving in Ohio when she was stopped. Child restraint laws in Michigan
exempt nursing babies.
But prosecutor Sean Scahill said Donkers should be punished for
endangering the child's life because the baby could have been killed even
in a minor accident.
``She placed that infant between herself and the steering wheel, between
herself and the air bag,'' Scahill said.
Donkers said Thursday that for a short time she took both hands off the
wheel to move the 7-month-old girl while the car drove in cruise control
at 65 mph.
``I don't believe there was any form of recklessness,'' she said.
Donkers testified that she had stopped earlier on May 8 at a highway rest
stop and fed cereal to the baby, a girl named Seren Barnhill. Donkers said
she realized the baby was still hungry after she got back on the road.
``I called my husband, and he directed me to continue on, to drive to
Michigan and nurse my child in the car,'' Donkers said.
``It certainly isn't a primary choice as a form of feeding my child. I
certainly had no intent to harm my child. I never would,'' she said.
Donkers and Barnhill - who lack a marriage license but claim to be
married - belong to the First Christian Fellowship for Eternal
Sovereignty, which has a history of challenging the government.
The organization, which pledges allegiance to Jesus Christ, was founded in
Henderson, Nev., in the 1990s. Barnhill says he is a minister in the
fellowship, which has 650 followers.
State police had pursued Donkers for several miles on the northeast Ohio
highway before she stopped. She insisted on speaking to her husband before
cooperating.
Testimony from a state trooper said Donkers had what appeared to be a
homemade Pennsylvania identification card instead of a driver's license.
After the ruling, Barnhill said Martell was fair.
``He doesn't know us. He wants to know more about us. I think his concern
is that this doesn't happen again,'' Barnhill said.
Barnhill said the couple was living temporarily in Pittsburgh for work,
but Donkers was a resident of Livonia, Mich., when arrested.
08/08/03 14:18 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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