Appeals Court Rejects Diversion For Man Charged With Santa Monica Hate Crimes

LOS ANGELES, CA — A state appeals court panel Tuesday ordered a judge to vacate an order granting mental health diversion for a man accused of racially motivated attacks in Santa Monica in 2023.

The three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal concluded in its 18-page ruling that "no substantial evidence supports the court's implied finding" that Job Uriah Taylor was suitable for diversion, finding 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 27-year-old defendant and filed a petition asking the appellate court to vacate Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lana Kim's order.

The appeals court panel noted in its ruling that the judge made no express finding that Taylor would not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society if he were granted diversion.

"On the contrary, substantial evidence either indicated or intimated that Taylor would likely abandon any mental health regimen if allowed to do so, with potentially catastrophic consequences," Presiding Justice Frances Rothschild wrote on behalf of the panel, with Associate Justices Helen Bendix and Michelle Kim concurring in the ruling.

The ruling noted that the defendant's "history of departing facilities without completing treatment and the temporary effects of his current medication indicate he would pose an unreasonable risk if granted diversion to a voluntary mental health program."

"Indeed, 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," according to the ruling.

Taylor is accused of attacking people "for no reason other than the color of their skin," including 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 ruling.

Taylor — who spoke at a court hearing and apologized to the Black people in the room for his behavior on the day of the alleged crimes — is charged with one count of attempted murder involving the man and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon involving three other people, including a Black woman who tried to intervene in the March 3, 2023, attack, and a Black man who was threatened earlier that morning with the metal pipe, according to the ruling.

He is also facing hate crime allegations, along with an allegation that he personally inflicted great bodily injury on the man who suffered life- altering injuries.

Santa Monica police said Taylor was taken into custody that day.

The appellate court panel noted that it had temporarily stayed enforcement of the 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.

City News Service