The Ninth Circuit has been fairly silent recently; only one published opinion in the last six days.
Fortunately, the Court of Appeal is still busy cranking things out. (Though nothing yet today)
I wanted to briefly mention this opinion from yesterday, because I definitely had conflicted opinions about it. The Court of Appeal grants the petition and orders the trial court to reconsider its refusal to grant mental heath diversion, and I understand and appreciate why it did so. At the same time, as I said, I'm torn.
On the one hand, the petitioner clearly has a mental health problem. That's the whole point of diversion; to try to get the underlying problem treated, rather than just throwing the person in jail.
On the other hand, those underlying mental health problems are clearly causing problems for society -- and particular victims -- as well. This was not a one-off event. Or, more accurately, it was a one-off event, and the petitioner got pretrial diversion for that, but that didn't solve the problem. So do we really want to keep granting pretrial diversion in such settings?
It's not a situation involving incredibly serious bodily harm, but nonetheless, people are getting injured. Here's his first offense, in San Diego, for which he received pretrial diversion:
"In the early morning hours of August 5, 2020, San Diego Harbor Police received a call from a taxi driver who reported a man who was his passenger, later identified as Siam, struck him three or four times in the back of the head with a skateboard and then fled by jumping out of the moving taxi. A little more than ten minutes later, police received a call from a hotel indicating a man matching the description given by the taxi driver was screaming and pressing the fire alarm in an elevator. When officers arrived at the hotel, they found Siam naked, laying on his stomach inside the elevator with his eyes closed and hands behind his back. He was “sweating profusely” and “yelling unintelligible phrases.” While being transported for medical evaluation, Siam spontaneously told the paramedic “he hit the cab driver in the head with his skateboard, jumped out of the moving vehicle, jumped off a bridge at the airport, and ran across the street.” He also said “he took off his clothes in the elevator because people told him to and that he had breathed in meth particles in the air.”
Here's his next offense -- the one at issue in the current appeal -- which transpired 19 months later:
"Around 9:20 a.m. on March 10, 2022, City of Newport Beach police received a phone call from employees of a car dealer who reported a man, later identified as Siam, entered their showroom, caused damage to a Rolls Royce, and then fled. When officers arrived on the scene, an employee explained Siam entered the showroom barefoot and said he wanted to buy a car with cash. He was fidgety and acting erratic. When asked which one he wanted to buy, Siam replied, “all of them.” He then asked if he could see inside a Rolls Royce parked in the showroom and became fixated on the hood ornament which appeared when the vehicle was unlocked. Siam proceeded to “rip[] it off the hood of the vehicle.” When asked why he did it, he made “a variety of statements that did not make any sense and stated that his father would pay for the damage[].” The employee was able to get back the hood ornament before Siam left. Officers were given video footage of the incident.
About 40 minutes later, around 10 a.m., Newport Beach police received another call about an incident involving a man who was later identified as Siam. A 60-foot yacht had been stolen from a dock in Newport Beach harbor and witnesses observed the yacht crash into docks and other moored boats, do two large loops while going full speed in reverse, and then proceed forward toward a bridge. It ultimately crashed into a seawall and stopped in the middle of the channel. Officers who reached and boarded the yacht shortly thereafter found Siam near the helm and “acting very erratic.” They arrested him without incident. While being transported, Siam “spontaneously stated he had taken Xanax and had drank multiple alcoholic beverages.” . . .
One person was injured during the incident. Specifically, a woman was in the galley of her sailboat when it was hit by the stolen yacht. The side of the boat “crashed in on her[,] throwing her down to the deck” and causing her to contact various solid objects, including a stove. She was again knocked down when her boat’s mast collapsed. Later that day she sought treatment at a hospital for a concussion, contusions to the back of her head, and bruises on, and pain in, various parts of her body."
Thoughts?
Is this a case where, yeah, pretrial diversion still makes sense -- because, clearly, the guy continues to have mental health problems? Or is this a case where, regardless of those underlying conditions, the petitioner simply needs to be locked up to prevent future victims?
Tough call, at least for me.
