The Broward County Sheriff’s Office announced that Circuit Judge Lynn Rosenthal was arrested for reportedly driving to work under the influence of drugs. Rosenthal is a judge at the Broward County courthouse, according to The Sun Sentinel.
Rosenthal struck a patrol car and also hit the gate for the judges’ parking lot with her vehicle multiple times. Not long before her arrest, Rosenthal was accused of hitting a concrete median on Interstate 595. Rosenthal told deputies that she took an Ambien pill on Monday night, but did not seem to have any alcohol in her system.
Rosenthal was arrested at 8:45 a.m. after her car struck a parked Sheriff’s Office vehicle in the parking lot, according to spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion. Rosenthal made a written request to keep her booking photo private because she is a sitting judge. Rosenthal was booked for one count of driving under the influence and one count of driving under the influence and causing property damage. She was released on bond of $1,500 Tuesday.
Rosenthal told deputies she was involved in another accident prior to arriving at work. She claimed a truck attempted to run her off the road and that she caught it all on her cellphone via video.
The video was reviewed by a deputy and discovered that there was no truck involved in the previous accident.
“The video did display that [Rosenthal] was unable to maintain a single lane, drove in the breakdown lane and failed to avoid a collision with a concrete wall,” wrote the deputy, Michael Wiley.
Rosenthal failed a field sobriety test and declined to give urine or blood to test if there were drugs in her body.
A defense attorney from Fort Lauderdale, Michael Dye, said that Rosenthal might not be in a lot of trouble.
“Under Florida law, Ambien is not listed as a controlled substance,” he said. “It doesn’t apply to Florida’s impaired driving statute.”
Rosenthal is now the third judge from Broward to be arrested for DUI in the past six months.
In November of 2013, Broward Circuit Judge Cynthia Imperato was arrested for DUI in Boca Raton. Her case is pending. Broward County Judge Gisele Pollack received a suspension from the bench on Friday for a pending inquiry regarding claims she was on the bench while intoxicated. Pollack was arrested May 1 following a crash in Plantation. She was charged with counts of DUI and failure to use due care.
Rosenthal’s caseload will be handled by Broward Circuit Judge Martin Bidwill until further notice.