Man Says Only He Can Punish His Wife, Not Court

[chadtm80]

Man Says Only He Can Punish His Wife, Not Court

POSTED: 10:38 a.m. EDT June 25, 2003

RAVENNA, Ohio -- A husband thinks he should be prosecuted for his wife's failure to stop driving while she breastfed their baby on the Ohio
Catherine Nicole Donkers, 29, of suburban Pittsburgh, is to go on trial Aug. 6 on misdemeanor charges of child endangering, failure to comply with the order of a police officer and several other driving infractions.

Her husband, Brad L. Barnhill, said he wants to be tried instead, citing religious beliefs.


"I'm responsible for what she does, and no one can punish her except me," said Barnhill, 46, a minister in the First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty, an organization founded by Christopher Hansen of Henderson, Nev., in the late 1990s.

"That's a fantasy," prosecutor Victor V. Vigluicci said Tuesday. "I've never heard such a thing."

The couple has not yet hired an attorney, according to court records.

A truck driver called 911 on May 8 to report that he had seen a woman driving her car with a baby in her lap.

Asked why his wife did not stop to nurse the child, Barnhill said she didn't want to turn "a five-hour trip to Michigan into a seven-hour trip."

A conviction for misdemeanor child endangering carries maximum penalties of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

[JetMaxx]

I wonder if Mr Barnhill would feel the same way if the charge against his wife were malice murder or armed robbery???

[firefighter16]

How about manslaughter? People now a days have to get out of this ME-ME-ME thinking and start thinking about their children. I swear I wonder why some people ever have kids. All it would have taken for an accident is for someone to cut here off or for her to look away and that child would've been killed in that accident. The excuse of saving time on a trip should never take precident over a infants safety.

[streetsoldier]

This so-called "Christian minister" needs his head examined....an hour after I use it for a punching bag, that is!

[Lindaloo]

This so-called "Christian minister" needs his head examined....an hour after I use it for a punching bag, that is!

I am in line for that too. For a Christian minister to utter such nonsense is un nerving.

[petal*pusher]

You know, at first I actually did have a teeny amount of compassion for this nursing mother! As a former nursing mother, (25 and 21 years ago!)I remember well how my body reacted to the hungry squalls of my child. That little tiny amount of sympathy was quickly eraced as I saw the wife, the husband, and the baby on both "Good Morning America" and " The Bill O'Rielly" show.

That little child is absolutely darling! Too bad it has been born to parents who think they are above our laws! The mother was driving with a suspended liscense.......and would NOT stop until driving 3 miles with the officer and his lights/siren blaring behind her. She said she thought whe would be in danger if she stopped! Hey...what about that little baby with her head between her chest and the driving wheel?!?

The apparent and willful attitude of both parents that they are above our country's laws came across very well. I'm anxious to see what happens here............p