XPost: alt.iowa, misc.legal, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.republicans   
   From: leroysoetoro@americans-first.com   
      
   https://apnews.com/article/iowa-judge-arrested-owi-   
   946a40b4870c929d914608240681d648   
      
   IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A powerful Iowa judge has been charged with   
   operating a vehicle while intoxicated after witnesses say she drove the   
   wrong way on a highway Tuesday night while passed out behind the wheel.   
      
   Adria Kester, chief judge of the state’s Second Judicial District, was   
   released from the Boone County Jail on Wednesday morning, court records   
   show.   
      
   A criminal complaint said motorists called 911 after 8 p.m. on Tuesday   
   night to report a truck slowly driving eastbound in the westbound lanes on   
   U.S. Highway 30 near Boone. One of the witnesses reported the driver   
   looked unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel, and drove into the   
   highway median.   
      
   The complaint said a witness got out of their vehicle to check on the   
   driver but could not open the door, and the vehicle was still slowly   
   moving in the median. The witness told police she had to climb in the back   
   window to put the 2026 GMC Canyon Denali truck in park and shut it off.   
      
   A deputy with the Boone County sheriff’s office said he found Kester in   
   the driver’s seat appearing to be heavily intoxicated and unsteady. He   
   wrote that Kester, 55, of nearby Ogden, could not walk on her own and was   
   assisted to an ambulance for treatment.   
      
   After she was cleared by medical services, Kester still could not walk and   
   refused to answer whether she would be willing to undergo field sobriety   
   testing, according to the complaint. The deputy wrote in the complaint   
   that he also determined it would not be safe to conduct those tests given   
   her condition.   
      
   A warrant was issued to obtain a sample of Kester’s blood at the Boone   
   County Hospital. She was arrested for first offense operating while   
   intoxicated and booked into jail around 4 a.m.   
      
      
   County Sheriff Andy Godzicki said the blood specimen would be shipped to a   
   state crime laboratory for testing. He said he was glad that no one was   
   injured in the incident.   
      
   “This is a tough situation for both the Kester family and the sheriff’s   
   office,” he said, adding that he had instructed his staff to treat the   
   judge the same as any other suspect.   
      
   Kester pleaded not guilty in a court filing submitted Wednesday afternoon   
   by her attorney, Matt Lindholm, who is considered one of the state’s top   
   lawyers for defending against drunk driving charges.   
      
   “Judge Kester recognizes the seriousness of the situation and is fully   
   cooperating with law enforcement and the judicial process,” Lindholm said   
   in a statement. “She is committed to addressing this matter responsibly   
   and in accordance with the law.”   
      
   Steve Davis, a spokesperson for the Iowa Judicial Branch, said the court   
   system was aware of Kester’s arrest but could not comment since it was “a   
   pending case and a personnel matter.” He said the seven-member Judicial   
   Qualifications Commission investigates allegations of misconduct by Iowa   
   judges, and can recommend the retirement, discipline or removal of a   
   judicial officer to the Iowa Supreme Court.   
      
   A judge ordered Kester released without bond after an initial court   
   appearance Wednesday morning. The judge also ordered her to submit to a   
   substance abuse evaluation and follow any recommendations for treatment in   
   the next 30 days.   
      
   Iowa Chief Justice Susan Christensen appointed Kester chief judge in the   
   district, which includes 22 counties in northern and central Iowa and is   
   the largest geographically in the state, in December 2022. In that role,   
   Kester supervises hundreds of judges and court employees in the district   
   and presides over cases.   
      
   Kester had been appointed as a district judge by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2017   
   after serving as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer.   
      
   Kester’s judicial position quickly complicated the criminal proceedings   
   against her.   
      
   One district associate judge recused herself from the case Wednesday due   
   to her “professional relationship” with Kester. Christensen later signed   
   an order requiring that a judge from another district be appointed to   
   handle the case. Judge Gregory Brandt was later designated.   
      
   The Boone County Attorney’s Office also cited a conflict in asking the   
   court to appoint the Polk County Attorney’s Office as a special   
   prosecutor.   
      
      
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