An Iowa judge found herself on the wrong side of the law after she allegedly drove into two pedestrians while looking at her cellphone, killing one of the victims.
Lynn Poschner was arrested on November 4 and charged with homicide by vehicle and serious injury by vehicle in connection with the fatal crash that took place in September. She was taken into custody one day after voters approved retaining her for a six-year term on November 3.
In a search warrant application filed by the Urbandale Police Department, Poschner, 45, was accused of making “statements that she had reached down to push something on her cellular phone.”
Police said that she allegedly claimed her “audiobook on her phone had stopped working through her vehicle speakers,” according to the warrant reviewed by Law & Crime.
“Poschner was not 100 percent confident if she was on her phone, talking or texting, at the time of the collision but did admit to looking at her phone,” the search warrant application stated. “Poschner was confident she was trying to switch something on her phone as the audiobook stopped playing through her speakers.”
The crash took place on September 25 around 9:17 p.m. in Urbandale. Poschner called 911 and officers reported to the scene.
“Dispatch stated that there was a female on the line screaming and two people are laying on the ground after running in front of her vehicle,” police said.
When the officers arrived, a man was found conscious and a woman was unconscious but breathing. The woman was identified as Jasmira Kadic, and she later succumbed to her injuries more than one month after the crash on October 28.
Poschner allegedly told police that she didn’t see the pedestrian when she was driving and that the crash took place when she was leaving a “book club with friends.”
She claimed that she “heard a bump” at the time of the collision and “thought it was either a deer or a dog.”
Poschner worked as a district associate judge in Judicial District 5C at the time of the crash, according to the Iowa Judicial Branch website. She attended Drake Law School and earned her degree in 2007 before she was appointed to the bench in May 2018. Prior to working for Judicial District 5C, she previously worked at a private practice.
Poschner has since been released on bond. It’s not currently clear if she has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following her arrest.
The Urbandale Police Department did not immediately respond to Us’ request for comment regarding updates in the case. The investigation into the matter remains ongoing.
