A smooth on crime California decide has sparked fury after a wave of violent criminals had been placed on the state’s psychological well being diversion program — with not less than one now on the run.
Choose Lana Kim has launched dozens of offenders again onto the streets, together with not less than 9 violent felons within the final three years.
The Los Angeles Superior Courtroom decide did this by granting diversion, a courtroom program that lets defendants keep away from a prison conviction and jail time.
The instances concerned tried homicide, tried kidnapping, alleged hate crimes and a terrifying wrong-way crash on the 405 Freeway.
The sample tracks with Kim’s personal public feedback about incarceration.
“I don’t wish to put anybody in jail,” Kim advised the Day by day Journal in a 2023 profile titled “Cheerleader for Individuals”.
Kim, who spent roughly 15 years as a prosecutor earlier than taking the bench, additionally defined that she doesn’t method instances with incarceration in thoughts as the best end result, in line with the report.
The newest flashpoint facilities on Courtney Perrone, who was arrested in Santa Monica in August 2024 and accused of attempting to kidnap an 8-year-old woman.
She was put right into a diversion program, and now could be lacking, in line with a report by the LAPD. Perrone was final seen on Could 17 close to the College of Southern California campus, in line with LAPD.
Her disappearance comes greater than a 12 months after Choose Lana Kim granted her psychological well being diversion in February 2025, regardless of prosecutors’ objections.
Perrone stays scheduled for a courtroom standing convention on Feb. 19, 2027, forward of a preliminary listening to, in line with courtroom data.
The underlying allegations had been alarming.
Santa Monica police alleged Perrone approached an eight-year-old woman and a neighbor in an alley, claimed she was with the Russian police and tried to tug the kid away.
When the neighbor intervened, a battle erupted, police alleged. Perrone then allegedly tried to pry open the neighbor’s automobile door and brandished a switchblade earlier than fleeing.
Officers later arrested her in a close-by grocery store parking zone. Police believed she was unhoused and residing in her automobile.
Authorities additionally reported Perrone had excellent New Hampshire warrants on suspicion of stalking and forgery and was on probation following an assault with a lethal weapon conviction in Nevada.
The Los Angeles County District Legal professional’s Workplace blasted the diversion resolution.
A spokesman advised The Submit: “Courtney Perrone’s case is an instance of the damaging sample we have now repeatedly seen coming from the Workplace of Diversion and Reentry right here in Los Angeles County.
“Perrone, armed with a knife, allegedly tried to kidnap an 8-year-old woman off the road. What made issues worse, she had a historical past of prior arrests for assault and battery.
“Regardless of this violent historical past, and over our robust objection, the Courtroom granted psychological well being diversion in February 2025.
“Consequently, Perrone by no means needed to face the implications of her actions or settle for accountability for her crimes.
“Now, over a 12 months later, Perrone has absconded from her psychological well being therapy facility and is lacking.
“The choice to grant diversion for a suspect with a violent historical past and a violent offense demonstrates a whole failure of this justice system.
“When our prosecutors object to those placements, we are attempting to keep away from this actual end result for victims, and on this case, for defendants too.”
Perrone just isn’t the one defendant accused of violent conduct to obtain diversion from Kim.
Lisa Heflin was accused of main Los Angeles police on a chaotic chase that ended along with her driving the improper manner on the 405 Freeway and crashing head-on into automobiles in Brentwood in 2024.
Police alleged Heflin entered the freeway in opposition to site visitors earlier than slamming into two vehicles and a tractor-trailer that had stalled on the roadway.
Authorities alleged Heflin then jumped from the van and climbed onto the hood of the semi as officers swarmed her and took her into custody.
Regardless of prosecutors’ objections, Heflin was later admitted into diversion as an alternative of being despatched to jail, in line with courtroom data.
However probably the most consequential problem to Kim’s method got here within the case of Job Taylor.
Prosecutors accused Taylor of finishing up three unprovoked assaults with a steel pipe in Santa Monica over roughly one hour on March 3, 2023.
The ultimate assault unfolded close to the Expo Station, the place Taylor allegedly beat a person residing in a close-by encampment with the pipe.
Two victims had been hospitalized, prosecutors mentioned.
One sufferer, 64-year-old Christian Hornburg, survived however suffered extreme, life-altering accidents.
Taylor was charged with tried homicide, three felony counts of assault with a lethal weapon and one felony depend of assault with a lethal weapon inflicting nice bodily harm.
The case additionally carried a number of hate-crime enhancements.
Prosecutors alleged Taylor shouted racial slurs throughout the assaults and later advised authorities he had been despatched to Santa Monica to focus on Black residents.
But on March 12, 2025, Kim granted Taylor entry into Los Angeles County’s psychological well being diversion program slightly than permitting the prosecution to maneuver towards trial.
The Los Angeles County District Legal professional’s Workplace appealed, warning Taylor posed an unreasonable threat to public security.
The appellate courtroom agreed.
In a Sept. 30, 2025, resolution, California’s Second District Courtroom of Enchantment discovered Taylor had a historical past of abandoning therapy, had just lately been launched from a psychiatric facility earlier than the assaults and continued to pose a hazard to the group, in line with prosecutors.
The courtroom concluded there was no proof Taylor would adjust to voluntary therapy if granted diversion.
After granting Taylor a rehearing in November 2025, the appellate courtroom once more sided with prosecutors on March 5, 2026, discovering the trial courtroom abused its discretion by granting pretrial psychological well being diversion.
Los Angeles County District Legal professional Nathan Hochman hailed the end result on the time as “a significant win for public security in California.”
“Psychological well being diversion could also be acceptable for defendants with psychological diseases who have interaction in low-level, non-violent crimes,” Hochman mentioned.
“Nevertheless, in conditions the place a defendant has dedicated violent acts, notably these critically injuring harmless victims, this resolution now offers judges the instruments they should deny pretrial diversion for defendants who represent an unreasonable threat to public security if launched into the group.”
Kim’s rise to the bench got here with overwhelming assist from contained in the courthouse.
She ran unopposed for election to the Los Angeles Superior Courtroom after the one different one who pulled nominating papers for a similar seat selected to compete in one other race.
Fifty-nine sitting Los Angeles Superior Courtroom judges endorsed her candidacy.
Kim was admitted to the California bar in 2004 and earned her regulation diploma from Whittier School.
The Submit reached out to Kim for touch upon this story.
Jonathan Fu, Deputy Director of Media Affairs and Manufacturing, mentioned: “Judicial Ethics prohibits judges from commenting publicly a few pending or impending continuing in any courtroom and requires that courtroom workers underneath the decide’s route and management equally abstain. Choose Lana Kim respectfully declines your request to debate this matter.”
