Trial moved to fall in case of drunken toddler

IOWA CITY - The child endangerment and neglect trial of an Iowa City mother arrested earlier this year after police say her 23-month-old son was hospitalized for intoxication has been reset for Sept. 25.

Natasha Kriener's trial on charges of felony child endangerment causing bodily injury and felony neglect or abandonment originally was scheduled to start this week. If Kriener, 26, is convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison on the neglect charge and up to five years on the endangerment charge.

Kriener was arrested Feb. 17, two days after her son's father took the toddler to the emergency room because he was crying and had poor balance, according to an Iowa City police complaint.

The 45-pound child, whom the father had picked up that evening for a visit, had a blood alcohol content of 0.097 percent - over the 0.08 percent level necessary for an adult to be found guilty of drunken driving. He was admitted overnight for observation.

When officers spoke with Kriener on the day her son was hospitalized, her own blood alcohol content level was 0.25 percent, police reported.