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SACRAMENTO, Calif. � This story was originally published by
CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

A Democratic California senator is now considering suing Sacramento
police for what she alleges was a �politically motivated� false DUI
accusation intended to �silence� an LGBTQ Latina lawmaker, her
attorney tells CalMatters.

Officers have insisted that they acted professionally, and they say
they had evidence to believe Sen. Sabrina Cervantes was driving
under the influence of drugs even though a blood test reportedly
later proved otherwise.

Meanwhile, a Democratic district attorney insists that politics had
nothing to do with his decision not to file charges.

Who�s telling the truth? At this point, the public has no way of
corroborating anyone�s account.

That�s because authorities are refusing to release records such as
body camera footage, police reports and search warrants that would
shed light on what happened on May 19 when Sacramento police
accused Cervantes, of Riverside, of driving under the influence
following a crash a few blocks from the Capitol. She was exonerated
nearly two weeks later, after prosecutors said no intoxicating
substances were found in Cervantes� blood.

It�s troubling that officials have refused to release records
pertaining to a criminal investigation of an elected public
official, said David Snyder, the executive director of the First
Amendment Coalition. He said the records authorities are
withholding could �shed light on whether she was being harassed or
whether she was being treated deferentially.�

�There are a lot of different narratives flying around,� he said.
�And in order to sort out those narratives, the public is entitled
to see what the police know and what they believed at the time.�

Instead, the public is left with conflicting accounts of what
happened after a driver allegedly ran through a stop sign and
smashed into Cervantes� state-owned car that Monday afternoon.
Police cited the other driver for running the stop sign.

Conflicting accounts of Cervantes� treatment
After the crash, a Sacramento Police Department spokesperson told
CalMatters that Cervantes was cited for suspicion of �driving a
motor vehicle under the influence of a central nervous system
depressant.�

When the Sacramento County district attorney announced last month
that no charges would be filed, police released a second statement.
In it, police claimed that when officers met Cervantes at a
Sacramento hospital, they �observed objective signs that led them
to believe she may have been impaired while operating a motor
vehicle.�

�The officers remained professional throughout, taking time to
explain the process and answer all of the senator�s questions,� the
statement said.

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,� police said.
Officers opted to wait for a judge to sign the warrant before
conducting the blood draw, police said.

The district attorney said prosecutors 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 DA�s Office declines to file any
charges in this case,� Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the office,
said in a May 30 email.

Cervantes maintained her innocence from the start and claimed
police treated her harshly.

In a statement to reporters after police announced the DUI arrest,
she said officers �accosted� her while she was being checked out at
a hospital and that drug and alcohol tests would prove her sobriety.

Cervantes released heavily redacted records she said were from her
hospital visit, in which a test showed a blood alcohol content of
near zero. A separate urine test taken the day after the crash
showed a clean drug screen.

Was senator targeted for race, sexual orientation?
Was Cervantes targeted for race, sexual orientation?

On Tuesday, Cervantes� San Francisco attorney, James Quadra, told
CalMatters his client is considering filing a lawsuit alleging
police violated her �state and federal rights, constitutional
rights, civil rights, and to address defamatory statements made
against her.�

Quadra said he and his client believe the Sacramento officers
targeted Cervantes because of who she is.

�We believe they (police) were politically motivated because of how
the information was disseminated (to the press), and the whole sort
of picture of her being under the influence,� he said. �To our
view, it�s to try to silence an active member of the Latino
Democratic Caucus, of the LGBTQ+ caucus. They want to silence her
voice.�

Quadra said officers at the hospital refused to let her call her
attorney or her wife, and then after citing her for DUI, �leaked�
the information about the case to reporters to smear her.

�It�s like a police state,� Quadra said. �It�s what we�re seeing
across the country, especially with Latinos, and she�s a member of
that community.�

Sacramento police spokesperson Sgt. Dan Wiseman said he couldn�t
comment on Quadra�s allegations. The department declined to make
Chief Katherine Lester available for an interview.

Officials reject CalMatters� record requests
The day after the crash, CalMatters reviewed footage from a nearby
office building�s security camera that appears to show Cervantes
wasn�t at fault.

The footage showed a white SUV rolling through a stop sign and
careening into Cervantes� black sedan at the intersection in
midtown Sacramento. Cervantes appeared to have had the right-of-way.

CalMatters also filed requests under the California Public Records
Act seeking body camera footage, police reports and the search
warrant. A warrant would include investigators� affidavits
detailing to a judge why they believe they had probable cause to
draw Cervantes� blood.

A month later, the police department hasn�t released any of the
records, saying the traffic collision remains under investigation,
despite the district attorney clearing Cervantes and police citing
the other driver. California police have broad discretion to
withhold investigative records indefinitely and regardless of
whether the investigation has concluded.

CalMatters also sought copies of the search warrant from Sacramento
County Superior Court and the Sacramento County District Attorney�s
Office. The district attorney�s office cited the same exemption to
the public records act that allows agencies to indefinitely
withhold investigative records.

Wiseman said officers had returned the search warrant to the court,
but when CalMatters asked for it at the courthouse Tuesday a
Sacramento County Superior Court clerk said it wasn�t available.

Quadra, Cervantes� attorney, said his client is �100% behind any
and all records being released.�

�She is unafraid of that, because the records will clearly
establish that she wasn�t under the influence of anything,� he
said. �She was a victim of an accident. She was T-boned and taken
to the hospital.�

DA denies �partisanship� played a role
CalMatters also sought under the public records act correspondence
between the District Attorney�s Office and California lawmakers
that might show whether Cervantes or other influential political
figures sought to influence the decision of District Attorney Thien
Ho, who is also a Democrat.

The district attorney�s office replied that it had no relevant
records. But the agency refused to release Ho�s appointment
calendar for the month of May, saying it was confidential and that
�the public interest served by not disclosing these outweighs the
public interest served by disclosing them.� Other agencies
routinely release appointment calendars of top officials.

Ho didn�t respond to an interview request through his spokesperson,
replying instead with a brief emailed statement.

�Regarding your allegation of partisanship, we stand by our
decision that no charges be filed since the lab results found no
evidence of alcohol or drugs,� the statement said.

Snyder, of the First Amendment Coalition, said the public should be
troubled by the secrecy surrounding the case.

�The public,� he said, �is entitled to know whether the police are
applying the law even-handedly, or whether they�re creating
exceptions based on who the person at issue is.�

This article was originally published by CalMatters.

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/state-lawmakers- criticize-trump-federal-leaders-over-federalizing-ca-guard/103- 919ea401-8a28-4a7c-a117-e209c7640ed6

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