Following the defense’s request for a re-hearing, a state appeals court panel has again ordered a judge to vacate an order that granted mental health diversion for a man who is charged with racially motivated attacks in Santa Monica about three years ago.
The 21-page ruling released Thursday by the three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal largely mirrors its ruling last September in Job Uriah Taylor’s case, with the justices again finding that “no substantial evidence supports the court’s implied finding” that the defendant was suitable for diversion and that the court’s grant of diversion was “thus an abuse of discretion.”
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office had opposed the bid for diversion for the defendant, who is now 28, and filed a petition asking the appellate court to vacate Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lana Kim’s order.
The panel’s ruling last Sept. 30 was subsequently vacated after the justices granted a petition for a re-hearing, which resulted in further briefing submitted by attorneys.
In its latest ruling, the panel rejected the defense’s contention that requiring a trial court to determine whether a defendant would follow through on an agreement to be treated in the community would create a new, non-statutory element to the suitability analysis under state law involving mental health diversion.
“The obligation to determine whether a defendant will pose an unreasonable risk of danger to the public if granted diversion necessarily includes determining whether the defendant will abandon treatment … Where there is no evidence of prior compliance with treatment and on the contrary a history of non-compliance, the trial court must take the possibility of future non-compliance into account,” the panel found.
The appellate court justices noted that “the record supports a reasonable inference that Taylor would abandon aspects of the mental health regimen experts testified were crucial for him not to pose an unreasonable danger to the public, with potentially catastrophic consequences” and that he was “just released from a psychiatric facility when he thereafter failed to take his medications and committed the crimes that are the subject of this appeal.”
Taylor is accused of attacking people “for no reason other than the color of their skin,” including Christian Hornburg, a Black man who was “ambushed with a metal pipe and then stomped on as he lay helpless on the ground, suffering life-altering injuries,” according to the opinion.
The defendant spoke at a court hearing and apologized to the Black people in the room for his behavior on the day of the alleged crimes, according to the ruling.
Taylor is charged with one count each of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with force resulting in great bodily injury, along with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The charges include a hate crime enhancement stemming from Taylor’s alleged use of racial slurs during the attacks, which occurred within a one-hour span on March 3, 2023, including one that left the 64-year-old Hornburg severely injured, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Santa Monica police said Taylor was taken into custody that day.
Taylor allegedly claimed after his arrest that he had been sent to Santa Monica to target Black residents, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The appellate court panel noted that it had temporarily stayed enforcement of the judge’s order granting mental health diversion.
Taylor — whose race is listed as white — remains behind bars at Pitchess Detention Center’s North Facility, according to jail records.
Further proceedings are set April 23 for Taylor at the Airport Courthouse.
Taylor could face life in prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.