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Beyond the sadness and loss of life, there is something troubling about a car-pedestrian accident last September 25 in Urbandale that took the life of Jasmira Kadic, 60, and seriously injured her husband.
The tragedy is heartbreaking. It forever changed two families and deeply affected their circle of friends.
But what followed the accident also is disturbing because it raises a multitude of questions that government officials owe it to the public to answer.
Forty days passed following the accident before officials announced who had been driving the Honda CRV that struck Jasmira and Mirsad Kadic.
There never was any question who was driving the sport-utility vehicle because the driver was interviewed by police at the accident scene, the intersection of 86th Street and Aurora Avenue.
But it was not until November 4 -- five weeks after the accident, seven days after Jasmira Kadic's death, and one day after the general election -- that Urbandale police finally made the driver's name public.
That occurred when the Polk County attorney's office filed charges of vehicular homicide and serious injury by a vehicle against Lynn Cottrell Poschner, 45, of Urbandale, who is a Polk County district associate judge.
The sworn statement by police accuses Poschner of driving "in a reckless manner with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property." Specifically, the charging documents allege Poschner said at the accident scene that she did not see either of the pedestrians in the street.
"She admitted that her phone was next to her and that she looked down," Officer Brian Butcher wrote in the complaint. "She admitted to manipulating the phone in attempt to get the audio to work through her vehicle."
Police knew this immediately after the accident, so the fact that the driver was not named in the initial press release raises yet again questions about government transparency and whether the public can trust that those in positions of authority are held to the same standards, and receive the same treatment, as everyone else.
The question is why the public remained unaware of the driver's identity for so long. The timing of the arrest is hard to ignore.
Poschner was taken into custody and jailed one day after Polk County voters cast their ballots in the general election. Besides choosing a governor, U.S. senator and a U.S. House member, voters also decided whether to retain Poschner and numerous other state court judges.
Unofficial election returns show about 69 percent of Polk County voters favored her retention.
Had voters known what police were investigating, they might have made the same decision when they went to the polls. But they were denied the opportunity to make that judgment with relevant information.
That is a serious failure of public accountability.
Iowa law recognizes there sometimes are legitimate reasons for police to withhold certain details after a crime or incident. One such reason is any unusual circumstance where disclosure of what the law calls "the immediate facts and circumstances" of a crime or incident would "plainly and seriously jeopardize an investigation or pose and clear and present danger to the safety of an individual."
Urbandale police have not cited either of these concerns for withholding the judge's name.
The social media sites police tout on their website ("Follow the Urbandale Police Department on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram") stayed silent on that salient detail. Their public information officer, who "is charged with developing and maintaining a satisfactory rapport with the various media entities by providing them with timely and appropriate information and accessibility to police events" did the same. The city's Facebook posting from the day after the accident said only, "Additional information will be released as appropriate."
There is a fundamental difference between protecting the integrity of an investigation and withholding information the public has a legitimate interest in knowing. When the public records law was written a half-century ago, lawmakers included in the statute an acknowledgement that releasing public records may cause embarrassment and inconvenience to people.
"Appropriateness" is not some sliding scale lawmakers envisioned when they wrote the public records law.
The fact that the driver is a sitting judge, that the accident caused serious injuries to one victim and led to the death of another victim, are matters of substantial public interest. The public deserves an explanation of why the driver's identity was not disclosed for so long.
The concerns about possible preferential treatment are particularly serious when ordinary Iowans typically face swift public identification following serious traffic accidents. If a judge receives a measure of identity protection that is unavailable to other people, that undermines the principle that justice should be blind to occupation, status and influence.
A judge's position should impose a heightened obligation to maintain public trust, not provide a shield against public scrutiny. You would think even the judge would agree.
She should, considering that this issue extends beyond one judge and one incident. It concerns whether Iowa's law enforcement agencies and prosecutors understand that transparency is an essential part of public service and public trust.
If there are legitimate reasons for withholding information, officials should explain them. If the delay in identifying the judge was influenced by her judicial position, Iowans deserve to know that, too.
Such an explanation is an obligation of accountable government.
Iowans should never have to wonder whether a different set of rules applies to those who occupy positions of authority. Nor should they discover after an election that information potentially relevant to their vote was kept from them.
One more thing: Judge Poschner not only won her retention vote on November 3, but the Urbandale Police Department also scored voter approval of a $25 million bond referendum that will pay for constructing a new police station.
Let's hope the halls of the new building bring more light and openness.
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.