Prosecutors announced Friday that a California senator accused of driving a drunk after a car accident would not face criminal charges after lab results showed no traces of drugs or alcohol in her system.
Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D Riverside) was quoted on suspicion of DUI after police interviewed her after a car accident near Capitol on May 19.
At the hospital, Sacramento police spent hours questioning the state senators, and concluded that she showed signs of addiction and cited her.
However, in a statement, the prosecutor said he had reviewed all the evidence presented by police, police reports, witness statements and laboratory results and decided not to charge her. Cervantes, 37, a first-year state senator, covers parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and represents the 31st Senate District, where he previously served in the state legislature.
“In line with our ethical obligations and the burden of proof in a criminal trial, the Sacramento County DA office has refused to file charges in this case,” the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Prosecutors received toxicological results from blood samples taken after the crash that tested negative for “measurable amounts of alcohol or drugs,” according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.
Cervantes’ deal with Sacramento law enforcement began after her SUV was turned into a t by another vehicle. She left the scene around 1:30pm and was in the hospital. So the police finally showed up and asked her questions.
An official interviewing Cervantes said she refused to take an outdoor sobriety test and “observed objective signs that led her to believe she was disabled while driving.”
Cervantes violently denied driving among disabled people after news of her quote became known.
“The accusations that I was driving under the influence are totally wrong,” she said in a statement after the quote. “The Sacramento Police Department’s accusations are unfair and do not hold the truth.”
Cervantes’ office subsequently released a compiled medical record from treatment at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Sacramento. She said the report showed that there was no alcohol or medication in her system. Her vital signs and behavior were not irregular either, she said.
Cervantes’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment that it had not been submitted to her.
Source link
