BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — After about a year and a half of bouncing in and out of courthouses with motions being filed, we can now look to the future following a decision on the case against Zachary Scrivner. I spoke with a public defender earlier this week to learn what goes into a mental health diversion and, if granted, what steps a defendant needs to complete.
"Mental health diversion refers to a statute that was put in law in 2018, and it allows individuals who are charged with misdemeanors and some types of felonies to receive treatment, as opposed to having to face either jail or prison if they meet certain requirements," Nicholas Roth said.
Roth has been a public defender with the Kern County Public Defenders Office for about a decade, and we spoke generally about Mental Health Diversion, not focusing on one particular case, as we've seen several diversion motions filed in cases like Riddhi Patel's, Crystal Aguilar's, and now Zachary Scrivner's.
And it begs the question, are we seeing more of these claims than we did shortly after the law passed in 2018? Roth says from his perspective, we are seeing more of these diversions because there are now tools in place to help those who apply for one.
"I think it is more prevalent recently, and the primary reason for that, I would suspect, is that when the law was first passed, there were not a lot of, or hardly any programs that existed that folks could automatically go to," Roth said.
Now, just because a defendant applies for a diversion program doesn't mean it'll automatically be approved.
"If you're charged with murder or manslaughter, you're just statutorily ineligible, and then almost every type of sex crime is going to be ineligible … but most other types of felonies, they'll be eligible to at least file the motion, and then it will be up to a judge to see if they're going to grant the motion, if all of the elements are otherwise met," Roth said.
As we heard from my colleague, Veronica Morley, Kern County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Childers sided with Scrivner and his attorney, H.A. Sala's request for diversion because he meets the criteria for it.
A mental health diversion program can last for up to two years, and it's unclear how long Scrivner will be in the program, but during that period what will he have to do? Here's his attorney following Friday's hearing.
"He has to pursue mental health counseling through a psychiatrist. He's seeing also, a therapist, and then provide periodic reports to the court," said Sala.
Scrivner is set up for a status hearing on January 29, where the court will get an update on how he is progressing with his treatment.
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