By M.R. Kropko
The Associated Press

RAVENNA, Ohio - A woman who nursed her infant while driving 65 mph on the Ohio Turnpike was found not guilty Friday of child endangerment but convicted of three other charges.

Catherine Nicole Donkers, 29, was found guilty of violating child-restraint laws, driving without a valid driver's license and fleeing police.

She said her husband, Brad Lee Barnhill, ordered her by cell phone to breast-feed their 7-month-old daughter while she drove from Pennsylvania to Michigan on May 8.

Police stopped Donkers after a trucker called 911 to report he had seen a woman driver holding a baby on her lap. Donkers refused to pull over for three miles as a state trooper pursued her.

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 fine. All four charges are misdemeanors. The child-restraint charge carries a fine of up to $100.

Portage County Municipal Court Judge Donald Martell said he would postpone sentencing to investigate Donkers, "Because I feel I need to know more about you."

Donkers, who represented herself in the three-day trial, said she did nothing wrong and was following her husband's orders. The two belong to the First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty.

The couple say their religion requires Barnhill to be responsible for directing Donkers' decisions and for deciding whether she should be punished.