POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – A Broward County judge who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after her DUI arrest in May told Local 10's Bob Norman that she was "sleep driving" when her sport utility vehicle plowed into a deputy's cruiser.
For the first time since her May 27 arrest, Judge Lynn Rosenthal spoke publicly about what caused her to slam into a parked Broward Sheriff's Office cruiser in the courthouse parking lot.
Rosenthal said the crash was brought on by Ambien, a sleep-inducing pill for which she is prescribed, that she took the night before.
"I was sleep driving and unaware of what I was doing until long after I got to the courthouse," Rosenthal told Norman on Monday after speaking on a radio show in Pompano Beach.
Rosenthal claims she didn't take any Xanax, even though the anti-anxiety medication was found in her purse.
Norman asked her why she had the Xanax.
"I have a prescription and it was not something that had not been taken," Rosenthal said. "The only drug that was taken was Ambien CR. It had been prescribed to me. It was the first time I ever took it."
Video obtained last week showed Rosenthal refusing to take urine and blood tests at a BSO facility, even though Rosenthal claims she agreed to a urine test.
"The police believed it was Ambien. The state attorney believed it was Ambien," Rosenthal told Norman. "The court accepted it was Ambien. And I guess when everybody acknowledges that was Ambien, that's going to have to be what it was."
Rosenthal had her DUI charge reduced to reckless driving. She was sentenced to three months of probation and 25 hours of community service.