Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Sleep Driving: Fitness Guru Jackie Warner's Ambien defense In cop assault

Episode Date: February 27, 2017

Fitness guru Jackie Warner blames the sleeping pill Ambien for her drunk driving arrest in which she allegedly tried to hit a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy with her Porsche. Warner, best known for her Bravo TV show “Work Out,” said she took one pill before laying down to sleep. She was in a hospital when she woke up, she said. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke explore Warner’s Ambien defense in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. weird things to folks. From unknowingly eating and sleeping, to driving to work in their PJs, to unknowingly attempting to commit suicide. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Ambien has been on the market since its approval in the U.S. in 1992. The company that makes the drug, Sanofi Aventis, says Ambien's provided 20 years of use and 24 billion nights of patient therapy worldwide. The drug is very dangerous. And it puts everybody at risk because we don't know how they're going to react. We don't know what's going to happen to them. And we punish the person, the patient. The superstar workout guru on Bravo Fitness has just been arrested for felony assault with a

deadly weapon on a police officer. It's really hard for me to believe Jackie Warner. I mean, I've seen her a million times flipping through the channels. She's beautiful. She was the star of the Bravo workout series. What? Aggravated felony assault with a deadly weapon? And on a cop, no less? This is Crime Stories. I'm Nancy Grace. Thank you for being with us.

And her defense is Ambien. Ambien, the sleeping pill. Cops say that Jackie crashed her car in West Hollywood. She also hit a pole. We're told when police arrived, she backed into their car, causing a deputy to jump out of harm's way. She was arrested and booked and taken to jail. What? Now, we're also learning that she says she went to a lunch that afternoon and had one martini. Okay. Then she says she took an Uber to and from the restaurant. The source states that when she got home, she took one Ambien and went to sleep and that she woke up surrounded by police in the hospital with no recollection of driving. To top it all off, in addition to the sleep driving defense, she wasn't wearing any pants. Just undies. Now, listen, if you believe her story, why would she

be wearing any pants? Okay, so the pants are not my problem. The running down a cop car is my problem. Hey, thank you, Simply Safe, for being with us today and making our podcast possible. Simply Safe guarantees your home safety, security. I have a home alarm system. And Simply Safe makes it affordable. $14.99 a month for monitoring plus the devices. And let me tell you, my nine-year-old twins can absolutely install SimpliSafe. It is not hard. They even have a video

online for you to watch and then do it. Go to simplisafe.com slash Nancy for an additional 10% off. SimpliSafe, thank you. Now back to Jackie Warner, the workout guru, with me now, the Duke, Alan Duke. What happened? It's hard for me to believe this woman would knowingly ram into a police car. I have actually been talking to Jackie since just hours after she got out of jail on Saturday. She reached out to me, and she wanted to explain to me what happened to her. And I believe what she's telling me, Nancy, because I've had a lot of discussions with her. She says that she took this one Ambien pill.

I don't know if you've ever used Ambien. Never. I've done it once and only once. Now, it's Ambien, the sleeping pill, right? It's a sleeping pill. It's the widely used. It is very widely used. I don't have enough toes and fingers to count all the people I know that take an Ambien at night.

And they think nothing of it. I took it once. I didn't wake up for 12 hours, which I guess was good. But it kind of scared me because I didn't remember anything. So you didn't remember anything, Alan? I didn't dream. I don't remember dreaming. I remember that.

It kind of scared me. I love dreaming. That's very interesting to me that you didn't remember anything, Alan? I didn't dream. I don't remember dreaming. I remember that. It kind of scared me. I love dreaming. That's very interesting to me that you didn't remember anything. No, I was asleep. What she is saying is that she didn't remember anything. I just want to tell you one thing, okay? Alan, you and I were discussing different people that we both knew, and a woman that was a very, very dear friend of mine, Meg,

she had dental surgery the next day. She prosecuted with me. She was in child support recovery, you know, deadbeat dads, and she's really into it. It was her mission. She had dental surgery the next day, and she was taking something to prep for the dental surgery. You know how sometimes you take antibiotics or something?

Anyway, they also told her to take, I think it was Ambien. And then whatever regular medication she took, Alan, she died in her sleep and left two children behind. So I'm not saying Ambien is a big health risk. But what I am saying is when you mix it with something else, you don't know what's going to happen. Google Ambien and sleepless driving, and you will see many examples of what happened. Jackie says happened to her. So she had this very important meeting. She says she had one martini or one drink while she was at the meeting. Then she Ubered home, as you said. Then it was about six o'clock at night or something like that. She decided to go to sleep.

And she took an Ambien. And as you say, she woke up. And the next thing she knew, she was in the hospital surrounded by deputies. But what we know that happened in between that was for some reason, somehow, she got into a car. It's a Porsche. And it's in West Hollywood. She drove by a 7-Eleven. Then she drove into a utility pole.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt. But then when the police showed up, she was somehow drove into the cop car. Well, of course, that's what got the most serious charge of trying to attack a cop with a deadly weapon. And that was, of course, her car. She says that she just woke up and that was it. She doesn't remember anything. Now, we don't have blood tests back. And I don't know how blood tests detect Ambien and that sort of thing. But that'll be interesting. But the point is, she called me on Saturday and basically said that she wanted, she was so upset about this, she wanted other people to know the dangers of Ambien. That's how she's dealing with it. She wants to let people know what can happen to you. This is before she hired a lawyer or anything. She said she wanted to get that message out there. You know, and to wake up

cops surrounding you and not have any recollection. Wow. No recollection whatsoever. Now, if you look up Ambien sleepwalking, it says the disturbing side effects of Ambien, which is the number one prescription sleep aid. The number one. You know, there are all these cases of people acting bizarrely on Ambien. Is it true? I don't know. But you know, Jackie Warner, you know her personally. I mean, is this characteristic, uncharacteristic? What? It is not characteristic. She's very careful about what she puts in her body. Her body is what, you know, she's a fitness instructor. She actually, I tell you what has happened with her the last couple of years. She's been, she's 48 years old. And guess what she's

been trying to do? She's been trying to become a mother. So she's been years old and guess what she's been trying to do she's been trying to become a mother so she's been going through fertility treatments and that sort of thing not been working out so much because of all the estrogen and hormones and everything that you got to do and she hasn't been drinking much but she's i think stopped that process but she she's she's not a big drinker she will admit that there was a time in her life that she went through some things but she takes care of her body her body being the temple law enforcement sources state she was 0.08. Yeah, but that's blowing. That's a breathalyzer. And you know that a 0.8 is borderline. And also, can you use a breathalyzer as evidence in court? Yes. Really? Absolutely. I thought that was just to establish the probable cause that they could then take blood.

But they did take blood. No, you can use a breathalyzer. You don't have to submit to anything, but you absolutely can use a breathalyzer in court. And it's not a cutoff. O-A is driving under the influence. Yes, legally it is. It's the bottom end of the range now, right? Oh, it is the very bottom because the cutoff is 08.

If you are 08 or above, you're considered DUI. But then the breathalyzer, of course, can be challenged. But really, the big thing is it's going to be the blood test that's going to be the best evidence, right? Well, here's the problem, and I want her to be telling the truth. I'm open and sympathetic to hearing what she has to say because I think that she is into physical fitness. I don't believe she has an alcohol drinking problem. But I'm telling you this, if you have one martini and you go home and take an Ambien and go to sleep,

however many hours later, if you're still a 0.08, that could suggest to some experts you had more than one martini. Because that one drink should dissipate in your body over the hours. Right now, again, thank you, Simply Safe, for making our podcast possible. And today, we're talking about fitness guru, Jackie Warner, who has now been charged with DUI and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, that weapon being her car. Now, we all know that Jackie Warner, if you've ever seen reality TV, had the series on Bravo. She left, she came back and did the intervention. After she did that, she wrote several best-selling fitness and diet books. She's released an album of dance music. Long story short, she's incredibly talented,

incredibly about health and fitness. Now, one thing that according to sources, she is mortified that she was driving in her underwear. I've got to tell you something. If you look at some of her promo shots, it wouldn't be a whole lot less than what she wears in some of her promo shots. I am not judging because if I had a body like that, I would totally be doing workout videos all the time

and saying, look at my body. She looks awesome. I wouldn't be too worried about the underwear part because if you look at her promos, she's basically wearing that in the promo she is mortified i don't think she wanted people to know that she didn't have pants on but it's really a relevant piece of evidence to support her belief she she doesn't even know what the police arrest report says and she is still in shock and she's just finding some of these details out. I don't think until today, she even knew that she was given a breathalyzer. She told me that

she doesn't even remember taking it. You are talking to, believe it or not, a sleepwalker. As a young girl, I would actually try to get out the front door sleepwalking. Had all sorts of night terrors, sleepwalking, the works. Then after my fiance was murdered, it re-triggered it all. I'd kind of grown out of it. Then it went on for years after that. It's kind of dissipated now. Although I get up and down all night long, but people do sleepwalk. And I mean on no alcohol, no Ambien, no anything. So I don't really know how to take it. I want to believe her because I like what I know of her. But, you know, come on now, Alan, to say that there was just one martini, but witnesses apparently backed that up. It's not just

her saying it. Right. Then the one martini and the one Ambien. You know, I find it odd, not just unbelievable, but it's funny what people latch on to. She's looking at an ag assault against a cop and she's worried that she had on her underwear. I'm like, forget your underwear, lady. You don't want to go to jail. That's what you need to worry about. Forget the underwear. Well, she's got a good lawyer. Sean Holly is her lawyer, the lady who guided a number of celebrities through their travails, including Lindsay Lohan. So she's got a really good attorney who can guide her through the court system on this. I don't know that I would brag about being Lindsay Lohan's lawyer. I was there probably 30 court appearances with Sean Hawley and Lindsay Lohan. And I can tell you that Sean Hawley has the patience of Job.

A saint of Job. The patience of Job. It's going to boil down to this. Is the ambient defense real or is it like total and complete BS? That's what this is going to boil down to. You have said in the past to me that it's no defense if you did something, let's say you commit a crime, a murder or whatever, while you're under the influence of drugs, because you knew the drugs could do that to you, right? It's no defense. That's not exactly what I said, because that could leave open for the

argument, I didn't know the drug could do that. I mean, hey, I took cocaine, but I didn't know it made me act crazy. No, the law is voluntary use of drugs or alcohol. It's not a defense under the law. You can't crash into a police car and go, oops, I had an Ambien. Well, what if you didn't know the Ambien had that effect on people? What if you didn't know that when you took, all she did was take an Ambien before bedtime as doctor prescribed, I assume, prescription medicine. What if she didn't know that when you took, all she did was take an Ambien before bedtime, as doctor prescribed, I assume, prescription medicine. What if she didn't, if she wasn't aware that that was a possible consequence of taking that drug? Then, is she still guilty? Doesn't matter. That's not fair.

I mean, under the law, it doesn't matter. But a judge could be sympathetic, and a jury could be sympathetic if she's believable. Ambien burst onto the scene around 1992 and various justices have emerged to address particular patient needs, such as for the elderly, people with metabolic issues. I mean, every facet of Ambien has been addressed. But whether a jury would believe that one Ambien and one Martini would make you act out like this is going to be, that's a tough one. And that's why I'm saying to you, Alan Duke, if you know Jackie, and this is totally uncharacteristic, that's really going to work in her behavior. It's not like she's a boozer and a druggie and she's out partying and like Lindsay Lohan. That was a good example. That's not her. I don't think. No, she's not Lindsay Lohan.

That's exactly right. And I think, how does it work in court? I think I know the answer to this because I've seen it, but you're the prosecutor. How does the court look if you, immediately after you're arrested, you come out in public and start this message of trying to help people avoid what you went through? Well, I think it's very helpful. And I think that just being straight, if this is really what happened to her the facts are not going to change she needs to marshal her evidence i.e her witnesses that were with her when she had the one martini possibly even the bill that goes along with it to show that's what she drank if you can't find the bill then you got a problem okay then to show that she went to the house and that she did have the

prescription for ambien and why. And I find it very hard to believe she would be out riding around in her underwear and ram reverse into a cop car. It's not something that I could logically believe. She might be able to win this. But back to your question, I've always said that if Winona Ryder had come clean at the beginning and said, listen, I was drinking, I was in a depression, I felt like, I'm actually making this up, I felt like I deserved those items, I know it was wrong, I don't want anyone, any young girls who look up to me to do this because you can go to jail, and I want to apologize,

and I want to pick up I want to, you know, pick up trash or talk to high school students or whatever you want me to do because I did this. It was stupid and I'm sorry and it will never happen again. So help me God in heaven. She had done that. There would not have been that horrible trial. She may not have been found guilty. She probably could have gotten something like pre-trial intervention where you go and talk to students and tell them, don't do this. It sounds like a small thing, but it can mess up your life. You'll have a conviction for Pete's sake over what, a blouse for Macy's? My point is, just come clean and try to get pre-trial intervention

and you don't end up having a public spectacle of a trial like Winona Ryder had because we covered it live on Court TV. And then you're basically blackballed. Remember, she didn't do a movie forever. No, she disappeared for a while. And then she came back strong. And I'm glad she did. This is one of the scary things. I mean, you've got a good lawyer, you're in Los Angeles, where they deal with these cases in a certain way, not like if you were in, like, say you were in the real world, not like if you were, let's say, in Gwinnett

County, Georgia. For the rest of us regular people, is that what you're trying to say, Mr. Hollywood? Exactly. Oh, whatever. Come clean. I think it matters. And plus, you know, this could be a whole turnaround for her. Yes. It really could. And in a good way. I mean, think about it. If she comes clean, she tells what happens. This could be a launching point for her to reinvigorate her workout career, her, you know, her clean living lifestyle. That whole thing. Yeah.

If this really happened the way she says it, she's going to have to have some experts to prove it. Okay. We're talking about the guru fitness expert jackie warner busted on dui and ramming a cop car after one martini in an ambient final word don't do it okay i want this to work for her i want this to work for her i really do okay everybody nancy everybody. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories with the Duke, Alan Duke, signing off. And stay tuned. What's going to happen with Jackie Warner? Bye, friend.

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