Riverside area state senator vindicated after drug testing shows she was not intoxicated

Prosecutors will not file DUI charges against California Sen. Sabrina Cervantes of Riverside after a blood test showed she had “no measurable amount of drugs or alcohol in her system” following a crash last week in Sacramento a few blocks from the Capitol.

“We have reviewed all the submitted evidence, including police reports, witness statements, and laboratory results. Based on our ethical duty and the burden of proof in a criminal trial, the Sacramento County D.A.’s Office declines to file any charges in this case,” Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for office, said in an email.

The announcement is a vindication for Cervantes, a 37-year-old Democrat from the Riverside area. She maintained from the start that she wasn’t impaired and that Sacramento police officers “accosted” her at a hospital where they detained her for several hours.

Cervantes did not immediately respond to a request for comment today.

The Sacramento Police Department responded with an emailed statement in response to a CalMatters interview request.

“During their interaction with Sen. Cervantes, they observed objective signs that led them to believe she may have been impaired while operating a motor vehicle,” police said. “The officers remained professional throughout, taking time to explain the process and answer all of the senator’s questions.”

Officers said Cervantes initially declined to participate with officers’ sobriety tests. So they asked a judge for a warrant for Cervantes to submit to a blood test and told Cervantes they had requested one.

“While the warrant was being written and processed, the senator agreed to voluntarily provide a blood sample; however, since the warrant process was already underway officers waited until it was signed by a judge before proceeding with the blood draw, which was conducted by a licensed phlebotomist,” police said.

Sacramento police and the district attorney’s office both refused to provide CalMatters with copies of the warrant, which would include investigators’ affidavits showing the judge they had probable cause to draw Cervantes’ blood. They also would not provide a warrant number that would allow CalMatters to obtain the document from Sacramento County Superior Court.

The May 19 crash happened around 1 p.m., less than an hour before she was supposed to be on the floor of the state Legislature.

Last week, CalMatters reviewed footage from a nearby office building’s security camera that appears to show Cervantes wasn’t at fault in the crash.

The footage shows a white SUV rolling through a stop sign and careening into Cervantes’ black sedan at the intersection of 14th and S streets in midtown Sacramento. Cervantes appeared to have had the right-of-way as she drove east on S Street.

Sacramento police said the other driver was cited for failing to stop at a stop sign. Last week, CalMatters filed a public records request seeking body camera footage and police reports.

In the statement, police said they will release some documents later Friday and are still processing others.