Kimberly Miller, who was arrested Nov. 7, 2015, says she took Ambien with a glass of wine.
WASHINGTON TWP. — A Philadelphia nun charged with drunken driving and multiple related offenses went on trial in municipal court Wednesday afternoon.
In the five-hour proceeding before Judge Martin Whitcraft, attorneys defending Sister Kimberly Miller said the nun had been driving in her sleep after taking Ambien with a glass of wine at bedtime. By the time she woke up, she claims, she had been arrested by Washington Township police.
Miller, who had a blood alcohol level of .16 percent when she was arrested, failed field sobriety tests during the traffic stop, but says she has no memory of interacting with police on the street. What's more, she doesn't recall crossing a bridge or entering New Jersey.
Miller's arrest occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 7, 2015. Police say Miller pulled into the parking lot of an auto repair shop around 2 a.m. and backed her Chevy sedan into the building, shattering the glass entrance to the business. She then drove away, but was followed by a couple in a pickup truck who saw her driving erratically. The two called the police, who pulled Miller over on Watson Drive.
Miller, who said in court that she has suffered from sleepwalking and a dissociative disorder for decades, testified that she had no memory of the incident.
"I woke up, and I was in my habit and handcuffs," she said.
Miller, who teaches at Little Flower Catholic High School in Philadelphia, runs an annual writers' festival each year in which published authors hold workshops for students.
In preparation for this year's event, she had spent the evening of Nov. 6 meeting authors and book dealers at an in-store event in Haverford, Pennsylvania. There, Miller said, she drank two small glasses of wine before driving home to the St. Veronica Convent in North Philadelphia.
Miller claims she had another glass of wine, along with an Ambien, put on her pajamas and went to sleep. She uses the sleep-aid to deal with chronic arthritis, the pain of which keeps her up at night.
"What's the last thing you remember from that night?" asked Jeffrey Lindy, who defended Miller alongside Alan Tauber.
"Going to bed," said Miller.
"What's the next thing you remember?" Lindy said.
"Waking up in the police station," Miller replied.
Sister Francis Murray, the superior at St. Veronica, testified that she had heard Miller moving around the convent late at night. The defendant even set off an alarm as she walked about the building, but did not respond, according to Murray.
When Prosecutor Scott Burns questioned why Miller would combine wine with Ambien, the nun replied that her pharmacist had not advised her of the possible side effects. Patients using Ambien have been known to sleep walk, and even sleep-drive, according to a medical expert who testified for the defense.
"She was in fact impaired, but it was a result of Ambien," said Dr. Fran Jengo, a clinical pharmacologist. He said that Miller did not appear to have made the conscious decision to drive, and that her claims of not remembering her actions were common.
"These are not predictable effects," he said. "We have found that there's no connection between [sleep walking] and length of use."
Burns pointed out that Jengo had never personally treated Miller, and that there was no chemical proof that she had taken Ambien the night she was arrested. Miller had also failed to tell police that she had an Ambien prescription, despite telling officers at the scene that she took Cymbalta for nerve pain, as well as acid reflux medications.
"There's no mention in the police report of any Ambien," he said. "She gave [officers] the names of several medications. This wasn't your run of the mill scenario where someone left the bar and got pulled over. Property was damaged, and she obviously left the scene."
Furthermore, he said, Miller's actions were against the law regardless of whether they were intentional.
"I don't see anything about intent in this statute," he said of the DUI charge. "You're either under the influence or you're not."
Whitcraft adjourned for the day at about 6:30 p.m. He will deliver a verdict next Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
Outside, Lindy acknowledged that Miller's story was strange.
"It's bizarre until you consider the facts," he said. "It is a unique situation, which is what we're asking the judge to consider."
Miller remains on administrative leave from her teaching duties.
Andy Polhamus may be reached at apolhamus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajpolhamus. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.