Trial under way for doctor accused of felony DUI

A former Sutter North Medical Group physician "certainly did" smell of alcohol after a May 2010 accident on Highway 99 that left a woman injured, a police officer testified Wednesday in Sutter County Superior Court.

Ifeyani Charles Igwegbe is charged with causing injury by driving under the influence of alcohol, a felony. His jury trial is expected to last at least through today.

Igwegbe's attorney, Michael J. Khouri, said outside the courtroom that evidence will show Igwegbe was not driving under the influence. Prosecutors said Igwegbe's blood alcohol content was .13 percent — but the blood tested was someone else's, according to Khouri.

The test was performed at Rideout Memorial Hospital, where Igwegbe, a gastroenterologist, had been headed to perform procedures on patients, according to testimony at an earlier California Medical Board hearing that led to restrictions on his license to practice medicine.

Elk Grove Police Officer Kurt Schoessler was riding his motorcycle to work when he arrived at the accident just north of Riego Road and found Igwegbe in his car, which had spun into a canal after crossing the median. Schoessler said he "consciously" smelled Igwegbe's breath and noticed "a relatively strong smell" of alcohol.

Igwegbe's eyes were bloodshot and watery, said Schoessler, who acknowledged under cross-examination by Khouri that other factors, such as an allergy, can cause the condition.

Igwegbe said he had been drinking the night before and that he had "somehow" lost control of his black Honda, Schoessler testified.

Another witness, Chad Frederickson, said he was following Igwegbe in the left lane at more than 75 mph when he saw the Honda swerve to the left three times and partly enter the median, then swerve back into the left lane. At one point the car's right wheels were in the right lane, he said.

Frederickson's front seat passenger, Walter Sosa, was in the process of trying to call the California Highway Patrol to report a drunken driver when Igwegbe "overcorrected" after swerving to the left. The northbound car went across the median and hit the rear of a southbound car, then spun into the canal.

The southbound car was driven by Olivehurst resident Lilian Munoz, who filed a lawsuit claiming the accident "will result in some permanent disability."

Frederickson said he and Sosa ran to the Honda and found Igwegbe still in the driver's seat, looking confused and disoriented.

Frederickson said he did not smell alcohol around Igwegbe.

Another witness at the side of Igwegbe's car was Todd Dinwiddy. He said he screamed at Igwegbe through the closed driver's window to unlock the door, but Igwegbe appeared to not be paying attention, Dinwiddy said.

Dinwiddy said Igwegbe smelled of alcohol, but his speech was not slurred.

Igwegbe refused to take a breath test, according to a CHP officer's testimony at a preliminary hearing in September.

CONTACT reporter Rob Young at 749-4784.