People v. Lake CA4/1

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant Darius Lake appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion for

mental health diversion (Pen. Code,1 § 1001.36) following his conviction on 10 counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery. The court found that defendant satisfied the statutory eligibility criteria and three of the four statutory suitability requirements. But the court found that Lake did not satisfy the final suitability criterion because he “poses a tremendous threat to public safety” if treated in the community. Because substantial evidence supports this finding, we conclude the court acted within its discretion in denying diversion. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The Underlying Convictions2

“A jury convicted defendant of 10 robberies and one attempted robbery that he committed at five banks.” (Lake I, supra, D074304.) “All robberies occurred in 2017.” (Ibid.) “On October 5, defendant approached bank teller Reema D. at the Bank of the West in El Cajon and demanded money. He threatened to kill her. Reema gave defendant the money in her first drawer. He demanded ‘100’s,’ and she gave him about $5,000 from her second drawer. Defendant took the money, put…