The California Supreme Court has refused to review an appellate court decision that ordered a judge to vacate her order granting mental health diversion for a man charged with racially motivated attacks in Santa Monica just over three years ago.
“This decision is a meaningful win for public safety in California. Mental health diversion may be appropriate for defendants with mental illnesses who engage in low-level, non-violent crimes. However, in situations where a defendant has committed violent acts, particularly those seriously injuring innocent victims, this decision now gives judges the tools they need to deny pretrial diversion for defendants who constitute an unreasonable risk to public safety if released into the community,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement about Job Uriah Taylor’s case.
“In this case, there was no evidence that the defendant was suitable for diversion and would safely comply with mental health treatment. In fact, the defendant, Job Uriah Taylor, had recently left a psychiatric facility, failed to take his medications and attacked multiple victims with a metal pipe, leaving one victim permanently disabled,” Hochman said. “This type of case is exactly why my office is fighting to amend the law and ensure that diversion programs are not used by judges in ways that put communities at risk.”
A March 5 ruling by a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal largely mirrored an earlier ruling last September in 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 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 their ruling in March, 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.
A hearing is set next Tuesday at the Airport Courthouse for Taylor, court records show.
He could face life in prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.