RECKLESS - HOMICIDE TRIAL MAY HINGE ON ROLE OF MARIJUANA

DuPage County prosecutors said Tuesday that a Bloomingdale driver they
alleged was high on marijuana is responsible for the deaths of two
people in a February 1998 crash on Swift Road in Addison.

Lynette McCreary, who was 18 at the time of the crash, has been
charged with two counts of reckless homicide and two counts of
reckless homicide due to reckless driving.

McCreary, who has been in the county jail since the accident, was on
her way to afternoon classes at DAVEA, an alternative high school in
DuPage County, when the car she was driving struck a car head on at
Swift Road near Collins Road. Killed were Lorraine Arrigoni, 75, who
was driving the other car, and Gina Mazzocchi, 20, of Gilberts, a
passenger in McCreary's car.

McCreary's bench trial before DuPage Judge Nicholas Galasso began
Tuesday with Assistant State's Atty. Patrick Provenzale, contending
that, "This is a case about a woman whose only concern was getting
high, whose only concern was having a good time."

He said that the evidence against her includes medical tests that
showed she had taken marijuana before the accident. He also said
several eyewitnesses will testify that McCreary tried to pass another
car on the inside lane and lost control of her car, fishtailing across
four lanes of traffic until she crashed in to Arrigoni's car.

Liam Dixon, McCreary's attorney, said in his opening statement that
blood tests taken from his client after the accident showed no
indication of marijuana, although he acknowledged that urine analysis
showed minute traces of the drug.

"This is about an accident, a tragic accident, but an accident," Dixon
said. "There is no way that anyone can prove she was under the
influence of the drug.

"She wasn't used to driving a high-performance machine, and she
couldn't drive it safely. She was driving a stick-shift car that went
out of control."

Reckless-homicide cases usually involve people who have been drinking
and who are considered intoxicated when their blood-alcohol level
reaches 0.08 in Illinois.

There is no legal numerical standard for marijuana
use.

A defendant found guilty of reckless homicide while under the
influence faces a maximum 14-year sentence, compared with a 7-year
maximum sentence for reckless homicide due to reckless driving.

Swift Road long has been a concern of area residents and motorists who
repeatedly have warned local and state authorities that increased
traffic likely would bring about more accidents

Arrigoni was among those who had spoken at public meetings about the
perils along the roadway.

The trial is expected to conclude next week.