From a doctor who police say intentionally drove his Tesla off a cliff with his family inside to a man accused of murder under court protection, concerns are growing about who may be eligible to avoid a felony conviction by participating in California’s Mental Health Diversion Court.
There are numerous success stories and studies pointing to the potential for lower recidivism rates for successful mental health court candidates, but critics worry that recent changes to the law could lead some defendants to take advantage of California’s recently expanded mental health diversion court program.
A CBS News California investigation found that there is no reliable data available to track the statewide success of the new mental health “diversion” courts. It’s also difficult to determine who the most successful program participants are, and how many of those “successful” participants reoffend after their charges are dropped. What data was available from counties and states was largely contradictory or incomplete.
Critics have raised two main concerns.
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Public Security: Judges have limited discretion to deny someone diversion due to public safety concerns: for a judge to deny diversion due to public safety concerns, there must be evidence that the defendant will commit a “super strike” (i.e. rape or murder) within the two-year program period.
Critics say future crimes are nearly impossible to prove and that the law should be changed to give judges more discretion over public safety concerns.
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Accountability: State law now requires judges to automatically presume that nearly all mental illnesses are related to nearly all crimes. Common illnesses such as ADAH, anorexia, marijuana addiction and erectile dysfunction are now considered qualifying “mental illnesses” for people accused of serious crimes such as domestic violence, kidnapping and attempted murder.
Critics argue the changes will allow some defendants whose disabilities may not be meaningfully related to the crime to have charges dropped without being held accountable for their crimes and without justice being provided to victims.
Cesar: A Mental Health Court Success Story
The Mental Health Treatment Court gave Cesar a “second chance at life.”
He had been homeless for seven years before being arrested for assault after taking methamphetamine laced with fentanyl.
“I realised I made a mistake and may have hurt someone and I feel sorry,” Cesar said.
After his arrest and time in county jail, Cesar had the opportunity to participate in Sacramento County’s Mental Health Treatment Court.
The city of Sacramento has run a mental health treatment court for more than a decade, but previously it was solely a post-conviction program for people who, like Cesar, had already served time in prison.
Participants who have been diagnosed with a mental illness that played a significant role in their offending are eligible to have their convictions expunged. Participants must complete a 12- to 18-month post-conviction program overseen by the Probation Department and must undergo regular drug testing, undergo mental health treatment and attend court regularly.
The courts also connect defendants to support services through nonprofits like Turning Point, which has caseworkers who help participants get to their appointments, as well as free or subsidized housing and employment assistance.
Cesar successfully completed the program and his conviction was expunged.
“I never knew another life until I was arrested, and then I got sober after I got in prison,” Cesar said at the graduation. “Now I’m sober. I know what it feels like to be a real man.”
But not everyone is as successful as Cesar: While California’s prison population has fallen over the past decade, both the number and percentage of inmates with mental illness have increased, according to a study by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Changes in Mental Health Diversion Programs
In 2019, Gov. Jerry Brown created a new “pretrial” mental health diversion court program.
Unlike Cesar’s post-conviction program, pretrial diversion allows defendants to suspend charges and avoid conviction altogether if they complete a 12- to 18-month treatment program.
But participation was limited initially, with fewer than 2,000 participants in 2021, while a 2020 RAND study found that an estimated 61% of mentally ill patients in Los Angeles County jails could have been appropriate candidates for diversion programs.
To expand access and increase participation, Governor Gavin Newsom signed amendments into law, taking effect in 2023.
Under the Mental Health Sector Expansion Act, defendants no longer have to prove that a diagnosed mental illness was the cause of a crime. The revised law requires judges to automatically presume that nearly all crimes were committed as a result of a mental illness unless the prosecution proves the contrary.
At least 41 counties now have some form of adult mental health court, and participation in diversion programs statewide has increased by nearly 150 percent in two years.
Not all are success stories
“We’re seeing people being admitted who shouldn’t be there because they pose a public safety risk,” Sacramento County Chief Deputy District Attorney Rochelle Beardsley said.
Beardsley gave the example of Fernando Jimenez, who was charged with assaulting his neighbor following an argument, leaving the woman with a fractured eye socket, according to court records.
Jimenez was granted mental health diversion and while in the program: Reportedly He now faces murder charges in Placer County.
Beardsley said there is little prosecutors or judges can do if they feel someone who is technically eligible for diversion may pose a threat to public safety.
“You have to prove that this defendant intended to commit a superseding crime within two years,” Beardsley said. “And that’s impossible for me to prove.”
She also points out that common disorders such as ADHD, anorexia, marijuana addiction and erectile dysfunction are treated as “mental illnesses” in almost every criminal offense.
For example, a Pasadena doctor who investigators say intentionally drove his Tesla, with his wife and two young children inside, off a cliff at Devil’s Slide in Pacifica says he suffers from depression, and because his family survived, he is seeking a psychiatric conversion in lieu of being charged with attempted murder and child abuse.
Murder and sexual assaults do not qualify for mental health diversion, although attempted murder, kidnapping and domestic violence do if the victim survives.
A bill to exclude attempted murder cases from mental health diversion was passed unanimously by the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee this year.
But Assembly Budget Committee Chairwoman Buffy Wicks quietly killed the bill last month by placing it on a spending hold. Neither Wicks nor Assembly Budget Committee staff responded to requests for comment.
Dirty Data
So how successful are California’s mental health diversion courts? It depends on who you ask. Cases like Cesar’s and Jimenez’s are merely anecdotes without any reliable data.
To understand the success of mental health courts, CBS News California collected data from county courts and district attorneys’ offices across the state and compared the county success rate data to county success rates listed on the state’s dashboard.
The data was largely contradictory or incomplete: in some cases, states cited county success rates that were much higher than the counties’ own success rates.
The state Judicial Council acknowledged that the data is incomplete and noted that additional success rate data may be available by July 2025.
Promising but old data
A small study of Sacramento’s mental health treatment court (before the new pretrial diversion system was implemented) found that graduates like Cesar who received treatment after serving their prison sentences were 25 percent less likely to be arrested and 75 percent less likely to be hospitalized.
In 2019, Sacramento County was used as a case study when the state developed a model for implementing successful mental health diversion courts.
Sacramento County was one of the few counties to provide CBS News with data that closely matched the state’s, which showed the county had a 66 percent mental health diversion court graduation rate over the past three years.
A different view of success
Sacramento County Judge Larry Brown, who presided over the mental health court for more than a decade, has a different view of success.
“The moment we connect them with a mental health professional, that’s a success. If we can get them on medication while they’re in prison, that’s a success,” Judge Brown said.
He says he sees about 200 patients a week, whom he gets to know through regular check-ins.
“When someone like Cesar graduates, we really miss him. He was a great guy and a gentleman. That’s what’s great about this job,” he said.
But without better statewide data showing what is and isn’t working, Judge Brown’s court and Cesar are merely anecdotes with great potential.
