Inset: Lynn Poschner (Polk County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Iowa justice center and courthouse where Lynn Poschner serves as a judge (Google Maps).
An Iowa judge is facing criminal charges after allegedly plowing into two pedestrians with her Honda CR-V while looking at her cellphone, leaving one of them dead. Her arrest came one day after nearly 69% of voters approved keeping her on the bench for another six-year term.
Lynn Poschner, 45, of Urbandale, was arrested Nov. 4 and charged with homicide by vehicle and serious injury by vehicle in connection with the September crash, according to court records.
A search warrant application filed by the Urbandale Police Department says Poschner "made statements that she had reached down to push something on her cellular phone." She allegedly said her "audiobook on her phone had stopped working through her vehicle speakers," according to police.
"Poschner was not 100% 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 says. "Poschner was confident she was trying to switch something on her phone as the audiobook stopped playing through her speakers."
The crash happened around 9:17 p.m. on Sept. 25 near the intersection of 86th Street and Northwest Aurora Avenue in Urbandale, according to police. Officers were dispatched after Poschner called 911.
"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," according to police.
When officers arrived, they found a man who was conscious and able to answer questions, along with a woman who was unconscious but breathing. The woman was identified as 60-year-old Jasmira Kadic, also of Urbandale. She died on Oct. 28, more than a month after the collision.
Poschner allegedly told officers she had not seen the pedestrians in the roadway after leaving a "book club with friends." She said she "heard a bump and thought it was either a deer or a dog," according to police.
According to the Iowa Judicial Branch website, Poschner serves as a district associate judge in Judicial District 5C, which covers Polk County. She earned her law degree with high honors from Drake Law School in 2007 and was appointed to the bench in May 2018, the website says. Her previous experience included private practice.
On Nov. 3, Poschner received 95,762 votes in favor of retaining her, compared to 43,313 votes against retention.
She is out on bond.