A woman has pleaded not guilty to charges that say she attempted to poison her husband after being captured on camera allegedly pouring chemical drain cleaner into his drink.
California dermatologist Yue 'Emily' Yu, 45, appeared before a judge in Orange County on Thursday (May 18) for a brief hearing after a grand jury indicted her on three felony counts last month of poisoning and one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury.
Prosecutors allege that the mother-of-two poisoned her husband’s lemonade tea while they are going through divorce proceedings.
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Through one of her attorneys, Yu denied the charges during her arraignment hearing on Thursday (18 May).
In July 2022, Yu was caught on camera allegedly pouring the chemical drain cleaner, Drano, into her husband’s drink after he left it on a table.
Jack Chen, a 53-year-old radiologist, noticed his drink had a ‘strange’ taste and decided to set up a remote camera system in the couple’s kitchen.
He said he also took samples of the drink and sent it to officers, and when law enforcement tested the samples, it indicated that a substance consistent with the liquid drain cleaner had been used to spike his drink, prosecutors said.
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According to previously filed court documents obtained by The New York Post, Chen said that a doctor diagnosed him with two stomach ulcers, esophagitis and gastritis after drinking the tea.
Yu was arrested in August 2022, but was released on a $30,000 bond.
She now faces a maximum sentence of eight years and eight months if convicted on all counts, prosecutors said.
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Yu’s attorneys claim that her estranged spouse actually had acid reflux and was not experiencing the effects of his drink allegedly being poisoned.
One of her attorneys, Scott Simmons, also claimed that Chen’s injuries were inconsistent with Drano poisoning and more similar to gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD, Fox News reports.
“As you know Drano is a caustic substance. You’d have severe injuries,” Simmons told reporters inside the courthouse last month. “His injuries are consistent with a benign condition called GERD or acid reflux.”
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Simmons also claimed that Chen had 'set up' his estranged wife to win custody of their two children.
Her divorce lawyer, David Dwaorakowski told The New York post that Yu was attempting to treat an ant problem in the family’s kitchen with the Drano-infused tea.
According to Dwaorakowski, Yu tainted the tea with Drano and sugar to attract ants and drown them in the concoction.
“While prosecutors are making it out like this video of Emily is a ‘smoking gun’, the reality is she was trying to attract the ants into the glass so they would drown,” he said.
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And Simmons also claimed that Chen had told Yue to put Drano into the cup to kill the ants.
Yu is expected to return to court on 27 July.
Gregory Robinson