Insisting she’s not guilty of driving while impaired, Inland Empire state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes has released what she says are medical records that prove there were no drugs or alcohol in her system after a traffic collision in Sacramento this week.
But a doctor who reviewed those records is skeptical that they exonerate Cervantes, D-Riverside, who was cited by Sacramento police on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.
RELATED: Inland state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes cited on suspicion of DUI
Michele McKinney, Cervantes’ press secretary, did not immediately respond Thursday, May 22, to a request for comment on the findings of Dr. Austin Shuxiao, a New York City-based physician with experience interpreting drug and alcohol tests.
Cervantes, 37, said her sedan was broadsided by an SUV on Monday afternoon, May 19. According to police, the collision at 14th and S streets — a few blocks from the Capitol — occurred about 1:30 p.m. and a private party took the senator to the hospital for minor injuries.
Authorities said officers met Cervantes at the hospital, “where they observed objective signs of intoxication and conducted a DUI investigation.” She was cited, but not booked into jail.
Cervantes, who represents parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, denied driving while impaired and said Sacramento police “accosted her” — an allegation denied by a police spokesperson — and “involuntarily detained” her for several hours at the hospital.
Cervantes continued to maintain her innocence in an emailed statement Wednesday evening, May 21.
“The accusation that I was driving under the influence is utterly false,” she said. “I take this matter seriously and in the interest of transparency, I am releasing my hospital exam report and hospital lab results.”
“As I previously stated, they show conclusively that I had no alcohol or drugs in my system — and that my vital signs and behavior were ‘normal.’ The Sacramento Police Department’s accusations are unjust and hold no truth. Again, I expect this matter to be quickly and justly resolved.”
Sacramento police on Thursday, May 22, deferred comment to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office, which has said it won’t discuss the case or whether it will file charges pending toxicology test results.
Documents shared by the senator’s office show a urine test, collected from Cervantes at 4:27 p.m. Tuesday, May 20 — more than 24 hours after the collision — found no traces of opiates, amphetamines, cocaine, THC, benzopines, barbiturates, oxycodone or ethanol.
Notes from Cervantes’ visit to the emergency room at Kaiser Permanente’s South Sacramento Medical Center dated 4:13 p.m. Monday indicated Cervantes, who was able to walk away from the accident, complained of lower back, hip and knee pain. Her mood and behavior are described as normal and most of the ER notes are blacked out.
Shuxaio, a licensed physician in New York City, reviewed the documents provided by Cervantes after responding to a request for medical expertise through a site connecting journalists with experts in various fields.
Shuxiao, founder of a mobile IV therapy service, took issue with the Tuesday timing of the toxicology test, noting it was a day after her ER visit.
“Surely there was a toxicology result and ethanol level from the moment of her admission, but why didn’t she show that?” Shuxiao said via email.
“It would have been much stronger proof that she was indeed 100% sober. And if the lab results from the day of (the) encounter were normal, why would they bother getting a repeat the next day?”
The record of Cervantes’ ER visit “selectively shows an alcohol level with (Monday’s date) but that’s not when the lab was drawn, it’s just when the hospital encounter started,” Shuxiao said, adding the part of the report showing when Cervantes’ alcohol level was tested is blacked out.
Cervantes “definitely didn’t take benzodiazepines or THC, as those would have shown on the lab report,” Shuziao added.
