Orange County Criminal Defense Lawyer

The Crisis of Mental Health in California Prisons During the Time of Covid-19

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In 2019 nearly a third of the 72,000 people in California jails had an open mental health case. Take the case of Kaiana Aldrich, whom the LA Times recently highlighted. Ms. Aldrich had been in and out of juvenile hall half a dozen times since she was 12 years old, mostly for running away from abusive family life. Her life seemed to be one traumatic episode after the next until, at 17, she was forced into a sex trafficking ring and criminally exploited. Soon thereafter she was arrested and tried as an adult. She was sentenced to prison, where she was further abused by the guards.

Aldrich, now 25, desperately waits day after day for a response from Gov. Gavin Newsom after seeking clemency for her conviction on the basis that it was directly related to herself having been trafficked. Because of this, she has made several attempts on her life. Most recently she was reported to have slashed her throat before swallowing the razors. “I am a woman who has been through a lot of abuse in my life,” she said to a reporter shortly before, “and I want it to stop.”

Kaiana Aldrich is only one of the 30,000 inmates who have been left vulnerable because of the recent curtailing of access to mental health treatment as a result of the current pandemic, in a system ill-equipped to treat mental illness in the first place. The way a society treats its most vulnerable is perhaps the clearest statement of its value. In California, the largest mental hospital is the Los Angeles county jail. Ask any fourth grader and they will tell you this is wrong. We should be as smart as a fourth grader.

You can read more about Aldrich in the LA Times article here.

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    MISDEMEANOR SETTLEMENT

    MISDEMEANOR SETTLEMENT

    2ND DUI

    Misdemeanor on completion of community service - Felony 2nd DUI, under 21 with injury.

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    case dismissed

    CASE REJECTED

    ATTEMPTED MURDER OF POLICE OFFICER

    Los Angeles Arrest Pre-filing representation on Attempted murder of police officer, assault with a deadly weapon upon a police officer.

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    CASE
    REJECTED

    CASE REJECTED

    ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON

    Strike felonies including assault with a deadly weapon - car with great bodily injury.

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    case dismissed

    Case dismissed

    CAR ACCIDENT

    Car accident, no license, speeding (filed by Anaheim City Attorney).

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    case dismissed

    Case dismissed

    CHILD ENDANGERMENT / CRUELTY

    Penal Code 273a(b) Child endangerment/cruelty.

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    case dismissed

    Case dismissed

    CHILD MOLESTATION

    Child molestation: Felony.

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    PROBATION TERMINATED EARLY

    PROBATION TERMINATED EARLY

    COMMERCIAL BURGLARY

    Commercial burglary probation violation: dismissed, no violation found.

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    case dismissed

    Case dismissed

    CONTEMPT OF COURT ORDER

    Contempt of court order by a gang member.

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    Case dismissed

    Case dismissed

    CHILD SEX ABUSE CASE

    Child Sex Abuse case dismissed.

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