Having nothing ready to say tonight, once again I turned to my search strings to see if anything amusing has popped up. Well, my search strings are just not funny any more. I didn’t even get any new misspellings of “Rottweiler” for your amusement.
My search strings tell me that I still get a lot of traffic from people looking for updates on Mary Wild and Lora Hunt, though. The most recent updates I could find are far from amusing.
On July 1, Mary Wild received what many would consider an extremely lenient sentence for her neglectful actions which led to the death of seven show dogs she had been paid to handle and care for. On July 21, she supposedly received a lifetime suspension from the AKC. This has not yet been confirmed anywhere that I’ve seen, nor anywhere The Dog Press has been able to find, either… and AKC isn’t talking. Why? I know that I would personally feel better if AKC had something to say about an incident like this one.
On July 22, Lora Hunt also received a shockingly lenient sentence for her criminally reckless choice to paint her nails while driving which led to the death of motorcyclist Anita Zaffke. She is serving only 18 months in jail for that crime. She is now asking to be freed for up to nine hours every Sunday to attend church services in her hometown. I cannot even think of anything to say that is fit to print on this one.
We all know the wheels of justice turn slowly. Sometimes I wonder if they are really just spinning out and going nowhere.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I’ve been following two court cases for the last year. One was that of Mary Wild and the show dog heat stroke deaths which resulted in a shockingly lenient sentence for Ms. Wild including no jail time, far from the eight years in jail plus $8,000 in fines that could have been imposed.
The other was that of Lora Hunt, who could have been sentenced to five years in jail for reckless homicide in the death of Anita Zaffke. Ms. Hunt is the nail polish killer, who, because she was painting her fingernails while she drove, rear-ended and killed Ms. Zaffke, who was stopped at the light on her motorcycle.
Sentencing was yesterday. And in this case, too, I am saddened and disappointed by another too-lenient sentence. Ms. Hunt received only 18 months of jail time. Not only is this far less than the maximum penalty of five years asked for by the prosecuting attorney, Ms. Hunt is also allowed to leave during the day for work, community service, and counseling. What the hell is that?
I’m also dismayed by some of the public comments on news reports and blog posts about this case. “Ms. Hunt is truly remorseful” and “is also suffering” and “people committing worse crimes on purpose are getting lighter sentences” — these statements may all be true, but none of them are reason not to impose the maximum possible penalty in this case. I truly cannot think of too many things more reckless than painting your freaking fingernails while driving, and if that caused someone’s death, it should be punished with an appropriately long jail term. Then again, these are probably the same people who had no problem with Ms. Wild’s suspended sentence because “it was dogs that died, it was not like she killed people.”
I especially fail to understand the thinking that because we have problems with more serious crimes, lesser ones should not be punished appropriately. I definitely agree that more serious crimes are a problem. I live in a city where three police officers were shot and killed in the last two months, so yes, there are huge problems. Punishing all crimes appropriately should be the issue. And in Ms. Hunt’s case, the maximum penalty allowable would have been most appropriate.
I truly admire Greg Zaffke II and the entire Zaffke family for their grace and class throughout this whole ordeal, and they remain in my thoughts.
Tonight I received an e-mail update from the Black Nail Brigade on the nail polish killer. For those who are new to this blog, this refers to a fatal crash in May 2009, when Anita Zaffke was killed when her motorcycle was struck from behind by Lora Hunt, who was painting her fingernails as she drove.
A motion to dismiss reckless homicide charges was heard today. The judge’s decision will be heard on February 10, 2010.
Greg Zaffke’s update gave a few highlights from the hearing. I have to say this part totally floored me, especially because the defense attorney was using this statement by Lora Hunt to justify why the crash should be considered negligence rather than reckless homicide:
I was distracted by applying nail polish, [which I contemplated whether or not to do]. I chose to do a very stupid thing.
Wow. Isn’t that the very definition of recklessness, dictionary or legal?
I hope this plays out to the correct conclusion. I can’t say happy ending, nothing happy about it.
I may have failed spectacularly in completing NaBloPoMo for November ’09, but I am just a few posts away from completing Jenni’s unofficial NaBloPoMo 75% Challenge for 2009. I may not have accomplished as many things this year as some others, but at least I’ve written something readable (usually) on more days than I haven’t!
While I was failing to finish off the month of November in style, and procrastinating at starting the month of December (I opted to forego daily posting, seemingly a good decision so far), a few things happened that some of you might be looking for updates on.
First, I want to thank Di for keeping me updated on Mary Wild. For those who haven’t been visiting here long, Mary Wild is a Missouri dog handler whose criminally negligent actions in regards to her clients’ dogs’ comfort and safety caused the heat-related deaths of seven of them this past summer. I am sad to see the news that Ms. Wild’s trial has been postponed yet again, this time to June 3, 2010. The wheels of justice turn way too slowly sometimes.
The Dog Press is also posting updates, and it was most disheartening to see the rumor confirmed that Ms. Wild is still showing dogs.
The wheels of justice turn way too slowly for humans, too. A motion to dismiss reckless homicide charges will be heard on January 5, 2010 in another case that I’ve been trying to follow. Motorcyclist Anita Zaffke was killed in May when she was struck from behind while stopped at a traffic light by Lora Hunt, who was painting her fingernails as she drove. As I’ve said before: all for laws prohibiting texting while driving, but apparently due to the extreme stupidity and lack of caring of some humans, they are way too specific.
I know a motion to dismiss is just standard procedure in the legal process, but in a case like this, it’s so disgusting to even think that a death like this could be “dismissed” in any way.
In what is probably a final update to the office squirrel story, the building knocked down its nest while I was on vacation. JR yelled at the maintenance man about the murder of possible squirrel babies and such, which is somewhat out of character for him. I suppose it was inevitable that the nest was removed; it wasn’t very attractive from the standpoint of the building managers. It does not appear that there were in fact any squirrel babies, and the squirrel was spotted soon afterward building a new nest in a safer location (not to be disclosed this time) and being fed on the second floor deck. He? she? did have a full 15 minutes of fame on television and in the newspaper, something that many of us humans have not achieved so this is at least an okay, if not a really happy, ending.
Photos have been ordered for Freya’s new rally title. Very disappointed there were only a couple of action shots of our team and not looking very good either, might I add. One shot is like a “don’t do this, tight leash bad, loose leash good” poster. No reflection on the photographer, though! It’s all on me. Photos are also on the way for Axel’s latest points. As soon as I get the releases on all of the aforementioned pics, I’ll post them to our gallery. I’m all about protecting intellectual property rights and giving proper credit, and I will never be the one complaining about reasonably priced photos (emphasis on reasonable).
Just catching up on a number of things that happened while I wasn’t paying attention:
Dog handler Mary Wild’s case has been continued again, this time until November 24, 2009. The wheels of justice certainly turn slowly. While I know this is true of many criminal and civil cases, not just cases involving animal cruelty, it just doesn’t seem right that it will be winter before this case involving dogs dying from heat stroke due to Ms. Wild’s neglectful actions will be heard.
Nail polish killer Lora Hunt pleaded not guilty to reckless homicide and is free on $100,000 bail. Trial is scheduled for December 7. There are links to news stories from the arraignment on October 8 on the Black Nail Brigade website.
I was looking forward to a late fall return of Southland only to find that NBC has cancelled it. WTF, NBC? Cancelling Medium (thank you, CBS, for picking it up), Life and now Southland? And you give me Mercy and Trauma? Dear Lord.
(NaBloPoMo | October ’09: 19 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 241 of 274)
Updates on the case of Mary Wild, the dog handler whose neglectful actions caused the death by heat stroke of seven show dogs in June, have not appeared in any mainstream media sources in quite some time, but dog forums and news sources are still keeping an eye out. A reader’s letter to The Dog Press reports that the case has been continued until October 13, 2009 and a jury trial has been requested. Maximum possible sentence would be 8 years in jail plus $8,000 (1 year + $1,000 fine for each of 8 counts of animal abuse).
I’ve served on a jury twice (one criminal case and one civil case) and I came back with serious misgivings about the phrase “jury of one’s peers” and for that matter, the entire trial-by-jury process. I wonder whether a jury trial will result in the maximum sentence for Ms. Wild, or will a jury feel sorry for her, perhaps because of her youth or because to so many people, a dog is just a dog and a show dog is just an object?
There was also news last week on another case that shocked and angered me earlier this year. Lora Hunt was painting her fingernails as she drove, and struck and killed motorcyclist Anita Zaffke who was stopped at a traffic signal. On September 16, Ms. Hunt was indicted on 6 counts of reckless homicide. Arraignment is October 8.
If you’ve been here before, you know my thoughts on distracted driving. This case is the one I point at when people try to demonize technology as the root of all distracted driving evil. Ban texting while driving, by all means. But make sure that distractions like this, total low-tech distractions, can also be considered dangerous and punishable when the results are as horrible as this.
Anita Zaffke had stopped her motorcycle at the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and Old McHenry Road as the light turned yellow. Lora Hunt’s car struck and killed Ms. Zaffke. Ms. Hunt admitted to painting her fingernails as she drove, and claimed she did not see the motorcycle until she hit it.
I will freely admit that my opinion is extremely biased because I am a biker’s wife and a motorcycle rider myself, though not lately. I have heard the whole “I didn’t see the motorcycle” scenario way too many times over the years. When you are the unseen motorcycle, as all of us who ride have been at one time or another, if you are lucky, you have enough room and time to evade an accident. If not, you become a victim of the classic motorcycle accident where the driver of a car doesn’t see the motorcycle who had the right of way.
I am amazed and incensed at some of the comments made on the linked news reports and other accounts of the incident that imply that the victim was partly to blame simply because she made the choice to ride a motorcycle. I cannot agree that someone should expect to be injured or killed because they choose to legally ride a motorcycle on a public highway. From all accounts, Ms. Zaffke was a responsible and trained rider. At the time of the incident, she was wearing a helmet and reflective vest, and had yielded for the yellow light. She was not doing anything wrong. Yes, motorcycling is inherently risky. No, no and a thousand times NO should anyone be injured, let alone KILLED, because some freaking irresponsible moron decides that painting her nails in her car is more important than driving that car and watching where she is going.
Some of the other comments that bothered me most are the ones that say “what if the car driver was distracted for some other reason.” Ummm. She wasn’t. She wasn’t trying to read a map because she was lost. She didn’t just get a phone call with an emergency. She wasn’t trying to attend to a baby or child riding with her. She wasn’t being stung by a bee that entered her vehicle. She was PAINTING HER NAILS. Yeah. I think that’s way different.
At this time, the only charge against the car driver is a traffic violation, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. To my knowledge, we do have distracted driving laws in Illinois. The language is such that it must be proved that the distracted driver’s recklessness was so extreme that he or she acted with complete disregard for the safety of others. I understand the need for a proper investigation, but if this incident does not constitute “extreme recklessness” with “complete disregard for the safety of others”… what does??
Most of the laws introduced recently here have had to do with texting while driving. I don’t think texting while driving is a good idea, but it seems to be far from the most common or most distracting thing that people do while driving. Maybe the current distracted driving laws just need to be revised and strengthened.
I admit (and probably so should you, and you, and well, just about everyone) that I do not always have 100% of my attention on the road. This whole thing has made me look again at what I do while driving. I wish everyone would take a moment to do that, especially if you live and drive anywhere near where my husband or I might be on a motorcycle.
(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 5 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 101 of 274)
