Iowa

UpInArms

(53,705 posts) Thu Nov 6, 2025, 07:02 AM Thursday

Powerful Iowa judge charged with OWI after witnesses say she drove wrong way on highway

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.

…

Kester had been appointed as a district judge by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2017 after serving as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer.

.. more worth reading at

https://apnews.com/article/iowa-judge-arrested-owi-946a40b4870c929d914608240681d648

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Powerful Iowa judge charged with OWI after witnesses say she drove wrong way on highway (Original Post) UpInArms Thursday OP

Not just a little intoxicated. Given that level, be sure she has OWI many times before. Not a cheap new truck either. nt Bernardo de La Paz Thursday #1

She was very lucky. No one dead. Easterncedar Thursday #2

And very lucky to be on a road UpInArms Thursday #3

She"ll be on the short list for the next Supreme Court justice now. progressoid Thursday #4

Uhm...WTF? progressoid Thursday #5

Field sobriety tests UpInArms Thursday #6

Yeah, progressoid Thursday #7

Bernardo de La Paz

(60,320 posts)

1. Not just a little intoxicated. Given that level, be sure she has OWI many times before. Not a cheap new truck either. nt

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 07:15 AM

Thursday

Easterncedar

(5,263 posts)

2. She was very lucky. No one dead.

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 08:14 AM

Thursday

Brave rescuer, to climb in the back of a moving truck.

UpInArms

(53,705 posts)

3. And very lucky to be on a road

Reply to Easterncedar (Reply #2)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 08:27 AM

Thursday

That has a median … many of our highways out here do not

progressoid

(52,296 posts)

4. She"ll be on the short list for the next Supreme Court justice now.

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 11:50 AM

Thursday

progressoid

(52,296 posts)

5. Uhm...WTF?

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 11:58 AM

Thursday

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.

UpInArms

(53,705 posts)

6. Field sobriety tests

Reply to progressoid (Reply #5)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 12:53 PM

Thursday

include standing on one leg to prove you have the ability to balance yourself

progressoid

(52,296 posts)

7. Yeah,

Reply to UpInArms (Reply #6)

Thu Nov 6, 2025, 02:59 PM

Thursday

if she's so inebriated that she can't stand, doesn't that make that test sort of moot?

Edit: I just read the follow up that they issued a warrant for her blood at the hospital and it's being tested. Kind of surprised by this since there has been a cozy relationship between LEOs and the Reynolds gang.

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