From speeding to special investigation

The Gazette Editorial Board

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It's remarkable how one speeding incident in April has become an ever-growing saga involving an unmarked state vehicle, the governor, a fired state investigator and the appointment of a former Iowa Supreme Court justice to do an independent investigation. Did it really have to come this far?

The speeding vehicle was an SUV clocked at 84 mph in a 65 mph zone. It was carrying Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and was driven by a state trooper.

A veteran Division of Criminal Investigation agent, Larry Hedlund, spotted the vehicle on Highway 20 west of Cedar Falls and informed a nearby state trooper, who clocked the SUV at 84 mph in a 64 mph zone but didn't stop the vehicle. Hedlund complained.

DCI superiors placed him on administrative leave, did an investigation, then fired him on July 17.

Hedlund plans to file a lawsuit for wrongful termination, claiming that his dismissal was, in part, because of his complaint about the speeding. Last week, the SUV driver, Trooper Steve Lawrence, was ticketed. Hedlund paid his fine but Lawrence is contesting, because it equates to a guilty plea.

Then the governor, who denies Hedlund's claim, asked Louis Lavorato, retired from Iowa's high court, to conduct an independent investigation of Hedlund's firing to see if it was appropriate and unrelated to the speeding event.

So here we are. And it seems this could have been settled with much less controversy and expense, and with more respect for the law, if a speeding ticket had been issued in April instead of late July.

Sure, Hedlund may have been fired anyway. But certainly there wouldn't be a “need” to call in a special investigator for something sparked by a traffic violation.

Still, if the judge can shed any light on this breach of public trust, perhaps his task will be justified when this is all done and over ... if it ever is.

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