EL DORADO, Calif. — El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson is joining the
California District Attorneys Association, in their statewide call for the California Legislature to pass “common sense mental health diversion (MHD) legislation”, Assembly Bill 46. This legislation is co-sponsored by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office and many District Attorneys’ Offices across the state. This bill closes legal loopholes in California’s mental health diversion law by restoring judicial discretion and ensuring the program provides treatment while protecting community safety.

Across California, Pierson said reports have shown tragic cases in which dangerous individuals were granted mental health diversion only to commit violent crimes later – including murder, attempted murder, domestic violence, and more. Examples in El Dorado County include one defendant placed on mental health diversion over the DA’s Office objection in a felony assault case, and then, while on mental health diversion, proceeded to stab a new victim at the public library over 36 times. This defendant is now facing charges of attempted murder.

In another case, mental health diversion was granted even though the defendant went on a 94-mile, multi-county police pursuit, traveling over 110 mph during heavy afternoon traffic. Three separate pursuits had to be terminated by law enforcement due to the extreme danger the driving posed to the public.

Pierson provided one more example of how this “broken law” is applied in practice, involving another defendant with two prior strikes who went on a burglary spree in El Dorado Hills involving six separate homes. That person is now seeking mental health diversion to escape the consequences of his crimes.

“Mental health diversion, created under Penal Code §1001.36, was designed to help individuals suffering from mental illness receive treatment instead of incarceration,” said Pierson. “However, recent court rulings and statutory limitations have significantly restricted judges’ ability to deny diversion – even in serious and violent cases – leaving courts with limited authority to evaluate whether diversion is truly appropriate.”

District Attorney Vern Pierson added, “Mental health diversion was created to provide treatment — not to protect dangerous offenders. It’s time for Governor Newsom and Sacramento to stand with victims and communities. AB 46 restores the judicial discretion they stripped away.

Under current law, once a defendant meets certain statutory criteria, judges have very limited discretion to deny diversion. Courts have even been forced to approve diversion in cases where no clear treatment plan exists, community safety is at risk, or where defendants have failed prior treatment efforts, due to how the statute is written and interpreted by appellate courts.

Further, Pierson said, once a defendant completes Mental Health Diversion, the crime is removed from the defendant’s criminal history, removing accountability for dangerous crimes as if the crime was never committed. This puts victims, law enforcement and communities at risk if the program is not implemented properly.
AB 46 addresses these concerns by allowing courts to consider whether a defendant poses a substantial and undue risk to the physical safety of another person and whether the proposed treatment plan is clinically appropriate to address the mental health condition that contributed to the crime.

AB 46 will be heard in the Senate Public Safety Committee on March 17. Members of the public can watch the hearing live at 8:30 a.m. at: https://spsf.senate.ca.gov/committeehome.

Read the CDAA letter of support here. For more information about mental health
diversion loophole visit www.placer.ca.gov/MHD