A state appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office should have been allowed to seek disqualification of a judge who presides over the county’s Behavioral Health Court, which deals with defendants who have serious mental illnesses.
Prosecutors had challenged Judge Cindy Davis over her referrals of defendants to the Behavioral Health Court program, with some of those referrals made over the prosecution’s objections.
Defendants accepted into Behavioral Health Court are sentenced to probation rather than custody, receive services such as mental health treatment, and must complete four performance-based phases over the course of at least 18 months. Successful completion of the program leads to a termination of probation and sometimes, reduction or expungement of the convictions.
Wednesday’s ruling pertains to two such local defendants Davis referred for BHC screenings, including a woman who pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter in connection with the death of her former landlord.
The District Attorney’s Office challenged Davis in those cases, arguing that the judge was admitting people into BHC without giving due consideration to the recommendations of mental health experts.
Davis declined to recuse herself because she argued BHC proceedings — as opposed to a trial — don’t involve contested issues of facts or law.
In Wednesday’s appellate ruling, a three-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal disagreed with Davis and wrote in its ruling that BHC hearings are similar to sentencing hearings, which “often requires the judge to resolve factual disputes.”
Though BHC is described as a collaborative court made up of a team of various representatives, including prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers and mental health professionals, the panel found that often members of the BHC team object to a person’s admission to BHC, meaning the judge is ultimately called upon to make a final determination of facts as to whether a defendant should be admitted.
Wednesday’s ruling directs the trial court to enter new orders granting the prosecution’s peremptory challenges against Davis.
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