California Legal Brief

The Rule of Joel Praneet Siam is that when determining whether a defendant's symptoms would respond to treatment under Penal Code section 1001.36(c)(1), a trial court may not override a qualified mental health expert's opinion with its own lay opinion about treatment responsiveness, under circumstances where a licensed psychologist provides an uncontroverted expert opinion that the defendant's mental disorder symptoms would respond to treatment.

The Rule of People v. Landrine is that a trial court may not find satisfactory performance in mental health diversion unless the defendant substantially complies with the requirements imposed on diversion, under circumstances where the defendant commits dozens of new crimes while in the diversion program despite express warnings that any new crimes would result in termination.