Watts

BACKGROUND

The details of the underlying offense are not relevant to the issues on appeal. In summary, based on the preliminary hearing, appellant was with some other men, he approached the driver’s side of a vehicle, struck the driver in a failed attempt to steal the vehicle, then ran away. He was charged with a single count of attempted carjacking, a violation of sections 664 and 215, subdivision (a). Appellant made three initial requests for his case to be transferred (i.e., diverted) to mental health court under section 1001.36: on February 19, 2020, September 30, 2020, and

Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 February 11, 2021. All three were rejected. In denying the third request for diversion without prejudice, the trial court noted that appellant had repeatedly failed to show up for therapy appointments and therefore was not a suitable candidate for mental health treatment. On March 10, 2021, the court was informed that appellant had agreed to participate in a full-service partnership program for mental health services. The court agreed to appoint Dr. Nicole Vienna to evaluate appellant for possible diversion. On May 6, 2021, appellant filed…