A doctor in California has been charged by police after her husband installed hidden cameras in their home and accused her of poisoning his drinks with drain cleaner.
Dermatologist Yue 'Emily' Yu, 46, has been indicted by a grand jury on three felony counts of poisoning and one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury following the accusations from her husband Jack Chen.
Chen claims he first became aware that something was wrong as he 'started noticing a chemical taste in [his] lemonade', according to court documents filed in the wake of the alleged incident.
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Chen, who is also a doctor, continued: "Eventually I developed symptoms that had me see the doctor who performed an examination and diagnosed me with two stomach ulcers, gastritis, and esophagitis."
The husband decided to install cameras in the kitchen to try and find an explanation for the strange taste in his drink, and court documents say he obtained videos of three separate occasions in which Yu poured 'Draino [sic] taken from under [the] kitchen sink' into his lemonade.
The district attorney’s office said Chen collected samples of the drink and gave them to the Irvine Police Department, who turned them over to the FBI for testing.
Results of the tests 'confirmed the substance was consistent with liquid drain cleaner'.
Steven Hittelman, the attorney for Chen, told CNN he has now 'physically recovered from the injuries from the poison' and that he was satisfied with the grand jury indictment.
However, Yu’s attorney, Scott Simmons, has claimed Yu is not responsible.
Noting the events took place amid a troubled marriage and a high-stakes divorce case, Simmons said: “He’s falsely claiming that she’s trying to poison him. Instead of calling 911, he calls a divorce lawyer.”
Simmons claimed medical evidence is inconsistent with Chen having consumed a drain cleaner, and said there was an ant problem in the couple's home which they commonly tackled using Drano and lemonade.
Simmons said Yu will not plead guilty to the charges, and David Dworakowski, who is representing Yu in the divorce, said she is 'innocent of these outrageous charges'.
"She looks forward to presenting her case at trial," he added.
Chen has filed for his divorce, a restraining order and custody of his and Yu's two children. Yu is currently able to see her children unsupervised, with custody arrangements ongoing.
Following her husband's accusations, Yu will be required to self-report to the Medical Board of California, which will determine whether the dermatologist will be allowed to continue her practice.
She's scheduled to be arraigned on 18 April, and if convicted on all counts could face a maximum sentence of eight years and eight months.
Topics: Sex and Relationships, US News, Crime, Health
Emily Brown