Doctor Pleads Not Guilty After Husband Used Spy Cameras To Catch Her Trying To Poison Him

Credit: Irvine Police Department

After being seen on camera reportedly pouring chemical drain cleaner into her husband's drink, a lady has entered a not-guilty plea to the allegations that she tried to poison her husband.

Yue 'Emily' Yu, a California dermatologist, was indicted by a grand jury on three felony counts of poisoning and one felony count of domestic assault with corporal injury last month. On Thursday (May 18), she made a brief court appearance in Orange County.

AP

While they are going through a divorce, the mother of two is accused by the prosecution of poisoning her husband's lemonade tea.

On Thursday, May 18, at her arraignment hearing, Yu denied the accusations via one of her attorneys.

In July 2022, Yu was allegedly seen on camera pouring Drano, a drain cleaner, into her husband's drink after he had left it on a table.

Photos courtesy of Steven G. Hittelman of the Hittelman Family Law Group.

A remote camera system was installed in the couple's kitchen after 53-year-old radiologist Jack Chen identified his drink tasted "strange."

He claimed to have also taken samples of the drink and given them to the police. According to the prosecution, when the samples were tested, it was discovered that a substance similar to liquid drain cleaner had been used to spike the drink.

Chen claimed that after drinking the tea, a doctor diagnosed him with two stomach ulcers, esophagitis, and gastritis, according to previously filed court records obtained by The New York Post.

Yu was detained in August 2022 but was later freed after posting a bond of $30,000.

If found guilty on all counts, she could receive a term as long as eight years and eight months, according to the prosecution.

Photos courtesy of Steven G. Hittelman of the Hittelman Family Law Group.

Yu's legal representatives claim that her estranged husband actually had acid reflux and was not feeling the effects of his reportedly poisoned drink.

According to Fox News, one of her attorneys, Scott Simmons, also asserted that Chen's injuries were more consistent with gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD than with Drano poisoning.

“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.”

Furthermore, Simmons alleged that Chen had set up his ex-wife to obtain custody of their two children.

According to The New York Post, Yu was using the Drano-infused tea to try to solve an ant problem in the family's kitchen. Her divorce attorney, David Dwaorakowski, confirmed this.

In order to draw ants and drown them in the mixture, Yu, according to Dwaorakowski, poisoned the tea with Drano and sugar.

“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.

Simmons further asserted that Chen had instructed Yue to use Drano in the cup to kill the ants.

On July 27, Yu is expected to show up back in court.