LA criminal court program diverts mentally ill offenders from prosecution
LOS ANGELES — The defendant talked about her struggle overcoming anger and accepting her need for mental health treatment.
When she was done, the judge led the courtroom in applause. Then, further undoing the hierarchy of courtroom decorum, Judge Theresa R. McGonigle stepped down from the bench, wrapped the defendant in a hug and posed with her for photos.
Five times that day, McGonigle and two of her fellow judges repeated that ritual, offering personal salutes to accused lawbreakers who had chosen to go through treatment for their mental illness rather than face prosecution.
After completing their court-ordered mental health programs, each had walked out of the courtroom free — charges dismissed and criminal case expunged from the record.
Even the prosecutor was complimentary.
"It was a pretty harrowing incident that took place," Deputy City Attorney Andre Quintero told the young woman about the crime she was charged with. "I'm not going to repeat it because it's not you."
The five defendants that day were graduates of the , an initiative in Los Angeles Criminal Court that is making a small dent in the in the L.A. County Jail population.
