() — A California dermatologist has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly poisoning her husband with liquid drain cleaner, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Yue “Emily” Yu, 46, was charged with three felony counts of poisoning and one felony count of domestic battery with bodily harm, According to a statement issued on Wednesday.
Yu’s attorney, Scott Simmons, says his client will plead not guilty. He adds that her husband engineered these events to take advantage of Yu in the divorce court.
Yu’s husband, Jack Chen, who is also a doctor, testified in court documents that he was poisoned with a liquid cleaner and that she was trying to kill him.
Yue “Emily” Yu.
“I started noticing a chemical taste in my lemonade. I eventually developed symptoms that made me see the doctor who examined me and diagnosed me with two stomach ulcers, gastritis and esophagitis,” Chen said in court papers filed for her divorce, restraining order and custody of her two children.
After noticing a strange taste in his drink, Chen set up cameras in the kitchen to see if he could capture any evidence as to why his drink tasted strange, the district attorney’s office said.
According to court documents, Chen has videos of three separate occasions of Yu “pouring Draino [sic] taken from under the kitchen sink and poured into my lemonade.”
In one of the videos, Chen said that his hot lemonade was covered with plastic wrap. She said that the video then shows Yu “taking the Draino [sic] from under the sink, removing the cover to pour the Draino [sic]and then replacing the cellophane and reattaching the Draino [sic]”.
Chen collected samples of the drink and turned them over to the Irvine Police Department, according to the district attorney’s office. “Samples were later turned over to the FBI for analysis, which confirmed that the substance was consistent with liquid drain cleaner.”
Simmons, Yu’s attorney, said the events surrounding this allegation take place against the backdrop of a troubled marriage and a high-stakes divorce case between two doctors.
“He falsely claims that she is trying to poison him,” Simmons said. “Instead of calling 911, he calls a divorce attorney.” Simmons said that Chen never went to the emergency room for treatment and that the medical evidence is not consistent with her having consumed drain cleaner.
According to Simmons, the family had an ant problem in the kitchen and they used to use Drano with lemonade to bait and kill the ants.
“Drano is not a covert poisoning agent, it tastes awfully crazy, it burns, the eyes start to water,” Simmons said.
Steven Hittelman, the attorney representing Chen in the divorce proceedings, told on Thursday that his client has now “physically recovered from the poison injuries.”
Hittelman said he was pleased with the grand jury’s indictment and especially pleased that it included the domestic violence charge.
David Dworakowski, Yu’s divorce attorney, said his client “is innocent of these outrageous charges; he looks forward to presenting his case at trial.”
Although the divorce is not final, Yu is now able to see her children unsupervised. Custody arrangements are still ongoing, according to Hittelman.
Yu will need to self-report to the California Medical Board, which will determine if he will be allowed to continue his practice.
If convicted on all counts, Yu faces a maximum sentence of eight years and eight months.
Yu’s arraignment is scheduled for April 18.
“Our homes should be where we feel safest,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the news release. “However, a licensed medical professional took advantage of her husband’s daily rituals to torment him by systematically feeding him a Drano-like substance in her tea with the intent to cause him pain and suffering.”
