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Greater than two and a half years in the past, Christian Hornburg was attacked by a person with a steel pipe at a Santa Monica prepare station, and he nonetheless is struggling bodily and mentally from the incident.
The person who assaulted him, Job Taylor, yelled racial slurs as he allegedly stomped on Hornburg’s head. He was charged with tried homicide, assault with a lethal weapon, and hate crime enhancements – however a decide stated he did not have to face trial.
In March, Choose Lana Kim granted Taylor diversion, saying, “The complete cause this diversion was created was in essence to deal with individuals who have a psychological well being prognosis.”
CBS Information California Investigates has been following the case since, wanting into diversion, the place a defendant is obtainable remedy and schooling as a substitute of serving jail time.
Hornburg stated he helps the concept of diversion, however not for the person who threw him to the bottom and practically took his life, leaving him wheelchair certain.
“I acquired a mind bleed … I acquired a few lumps in my head the place he hit me … kicked me within the head,” he stated.
Los Angeles County District Legal professional Nathan Hochman says Taylor attacked two different Black folks the identical day.
In response to court docket information, footage from a police physique digital camera confirmed Taylor continued his racist rant till he was arrested.
“It completely was a hate crime,” Hochman assured. “Actually, Mr. Taylor, when he was interviewed, stated he had a specific difficulty with black folks.”
Hochman defined {that a} decide honored a request for diversion on this case. “These circumstances ought to have resulted in years of jail time.”
In LA County, the Workplace of Diversion and Reentry gives supportive housing via both psychological well being diversion or probation.
This isn’t a locked facility. This can be a facility at any second of any day that he can stroll out of they usually will not cease him,” Hochman stated.
Taylor has been recognized with schizoaffective dysfunction, bipolar illness, and an opiate use dysfunction.
Regardless of efforts to find out diversion program completion charges versus those that select to stroll out, precise numbers couldn’t be confirmed from the Workplace of Diversion and Reentry officers.
The workplace did report that in 2024, there have been doubtless between 2,700 to 2,800 folks in this system, and that they misplaced monitor of round 400 to 500 folks, and someplace between 100 to 200 folks returned to jail.
Hochman estimates there are about 24 % who didn’t full this system, whereas estimates from ODR present about 17%. “That could be a failure charge that’s extremely severe in our society,” Hochman stated.
Hochman argues for the sufferer. “The entire level of the felony justice system is that it must ship justice to victims like Mr. Hornburg. However, on this case, it completely did not,” he stated.
A Rand research discovered that Speedy Diversion Program members are 3 times much less prone to be rearrested than these incarcerated, whereas the Vera Institute of Justice discovered “individuals who full diversion are 43 % extra prone to achieve employment.”
Troy Vaughn runs the non-profit Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership. “Diversion is meant to handle the basis causes like trauma, psychological well being, and poverty,” Vaughn stated “It isn’t about avoiding accountability. It is about accountability that works.”
In response to psychological well being diversion statutes, a defendant charged with sure crimes, comparable to homicide and rape, is ineligible for diversion.
Taylor’s public defender stated he “is housed with Black inmates. His bunkmate is a black particular person… He doesn’t have animosity in the direction of black folks.”
However in assist of their opposition to Taylor’s movement for diversion, the DA cited Taylor’s medical information, which indicated a jail psychologist who interviewed Taylor famous his “hostile and aggressive behaviors in the direction of custody employees.”
Final month, the California Court docket of Appeals granted the DA’s petition to vacate Choose Kim’s order for diversion, saying no proof recommended that Taylor wouldn’t pose an unreasonable threat of hazard to public security if granted diversion.
In the meantime, Hornburg has been residing in a care facility with lasting accidents. “I had a bit tendon and it broken the muscle tissues in my wrists. I’ve acquired vertigo, he stated. “I assume from not strolling, my legs have gotten weak, and my steadiness is off. I’ve fixed complications every single day.”
Taylor will now face trial on the unique expenses, together with tried homicide with a hate crime enhancement. His pretrial hearings are set for December. If convicted, he faces life in jail.
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