Mental health diversion has now become a major issue in Los Angeles. Many defense attorneys are trying to obtain this mental health diversion for their clients, and it has just been passed into law.
Mental health diversion, a form of diversion under California law, offers a ray of hope. It allows individuals to avoid a conviction on their record and secure a dismissal at the end of the case. This promising option became effective in June 2018 after the passage of California Senate Bill 215.
The two main things you're looking at in attempting to get mental health diversion—and I've tried to get it for a lot of my clients—have been successful for some clients and unsuccessful for others. Under California Penal Code 1001.36 Mental Health Diversion, defendants charged with a misdemeanor or felony crime could be eligible.
First, you must determine that your client has some mental issue. That's pretty broad. It can be a lot of different topics. It can be substance abuse. It can be because someone is a Veteran and they have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There's a whole host of different things that can qualify as a mental issue.
The crucial step in the mental health diversion process is obtaining a professional evaluation. This evaluation, conducted by an expert, is instrumental in diagnosing the client's mental health issue. The resulting diagnosis can then be presented in a Motion to the judge to support the case for mental health diversion.
The second aspect of mental health diversion is that whatever mental issue the person has has to have something to do with the crime that they committed. In other words, when they're using their mental health issues, they're in a position where they are committing a crime, and it's because of the mental health issue that they commit the crime.
This is usually where the big problem is. The person doesn't commit the crime because if that person says no, I am just defending myself. In that case, you're not going to be able to assert the mental health diversion program because you have a defense to your crime. You don't have a situation where your mental issues are taking over.
So, that's where people are getting into a bit of a problem because they want to fight their cases — they want to argue against it — but on the flip side, they want to try to use that mental health diversion.
Reviewing Best Strategy with a Criminal Lawyer
Your attorney plays a crucial role in this process, as they can [specific role]. So, you need to talk to your attorney about this. Together, you and your attorney can find the best strategy to see if the mental health diversion really works for you. Sometimes, it does; sometimes, it doesn't.
But I think the bottom line is that if you sit down with your attorney and talk about it, get a psychiatrist to evaluate you, get the report, review the report, and go over everything with your attorney. You can see if this mental health diversion in Los Angeles County makes sense for you or not.
Don't forget, even if you get mental health diversion, you will have to plead guilty or no contest. You're going to have to do certain things. You're going to have to see a psychiatrist, and in seeing the psychiatrist, you're going to have to give them all the information, and they're going to have to diagnose you with some mental illness. If you don't have a mental illness, then obviously, you're not going to be able to utilize the mental health diversion.
Some crimes may qualify for mental health diversion. It's interesting because there are a lot of different crimes that will allow you to get mental health diversion. The only limitations seem to be murder cases and sex-related offenses.
But beyond that, you can usually mount an argument to try to get this mental health diversion. After pleading guilty or no contest, you go through the entire probation period, and if you complete everything successfully, you put yourself in a position to get your case dismissed.
