Something we missed in the end-of-the-week rush last week: Lora Hunt, the woman convicted of reckless homicide in a distracted driving accident, was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Hunt crashed in to and killed motorcyclist Anita Zaffke in May 2009, distracted as she was painting her nails. Hunt had originally faced lesser charges which were later dropped in favor of more the more serious reckless homicide charge. Prosecutors had pushed for the full sentence of five years before the more lenient sentence was handed down. While Hunt will spend nights at the jail, she, "will be allowed to leave during the day for work, counseling and community service," according to the Tribune. Tacked on to the jail sentence are 240 hours of community service and 18 months of probation. more ›

Lora Hunt, the woman who ran into and killed motorcyclist Anita Zaffke in a traffic accident last May, was found guilty of reckless homicide yeserday. Prosecutors contended that Hunt was distracted at the time of the accident because she was painting her nails while driving. The jury took 3.5 hours to convict Hunt. more ›

Lake County prosecutors have thrown out a traffic violation against Lora Hunt, the woman who struck and killed motorcyclist Anita Zaffke (pictured right) with her car while allegedly painting her nails. But that doesn't mean Ms. Hunt is free. Instead, prosecutors are examining more serious criminal charges against her. Michael Waller, Lake County state’s attorney, said, “We’re investigating to determine whether more serious charges can be filed." The reason she's not facing the traffic violation is a simple one: prosecutors worried that if she had pleaded guilty to the violation, they might not have been able to pursue more serious charges due to the double jeopardy statute of facing charges for the same crime twice. Just as they had last month, though, prosecutors are having problems with the vagueness of state law as pertaining to "distracted drivers." Waller said that new charges should be filed against Hunt in the next two to three weeks. [Sun-Times] more ›

For those of us waiting to see if charges will be filed in the wreck that killed motorcyclist Anita Zaffke this weekend, we might be waiting a while. The driver of the car that slammed into Zaffke - who was stopping at a yellow light - was distracted because she was painting her nails. Today, the Tribune takes an interesting look at the development of laws (and lack thereof) in the state of Illinois pertaining to accidents caused by such "distractions." more ›