Driver charged in Marvin Boomer death will ask to exit jail for mental health care

"At the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland yesterday, the lawyer representing Eric Scott Hernandez Garcia, the 18-year-old city resident accused of manslaughter in the death of schoolteacher Marvin Boomer in a collision last May, said he would request a mental health diversion for his client. If the court approves the application at the next hearing, on January 27, Hernandez Garcia would likely be released from jail and placed in a mental health program, where he would remain under house arrest or potentially be placed in a separate facility. Under California's penal code, a mental health diversion plea could include the diagnosis of a mental disorder "including, but not limited to, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder," according to the law. Martin Cavares, Garcia Hernandez's attorney, did not specify which mental health diagnosis his client has received."

""A court may consider any relevant and credible evidence, including, but not limited to, police reports, preliminary hearing transcripts, witness statements, statements by the defendant's mental health treatment provider, medical records, records or reports by qualified medical experts, or evidence that the defendant displayed symptoms consistent with the relevant mental disorder at or near the time of the offense," the law says. The motion for the health diversion will have to assert that Hernandez Garcia does not pose a danger to public safety."

"The Oaklandside reached out to Cavares after the hearing to ask whether the mental diversion application indicates he will seek to have Hernandez Garcia declared incompetent to stand trial. The lawyer said that his goal "at this time" was to get him into pretrial diversion. A collision after a CHP chase Last May 28, Hernandez Garcia was approached by the California Highway Patrol because of a seizure warrant for the vehicle from a previous instance of reckless driving."

Eric Scott Hernandez Garcia, an 18-year-old Oakland resident accused of manslaughter in a May collision that killed schoolteacher Marvin Boomer, faces a potential mental health diversion application. If approved at the January 27 hearing, Hernandez Garcia would likely be released from jail and placed in a mental health program under house arrest or in a separate facility. California law allows diversion for diagnosed mental disorders including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or PTSD. A court may consider police reports, transcripts, witness statements, medical records, treatment provider statements, and expert reports. The motion must assert no danger to public safety. Attorney Martin Cavares did not specify a diagnosis and said the immediate goal is pretrial diversion. The collision followed a CHP approach on May 28 tied to a seizure warrant for the vehicle after prior reckless driving.

Read at The Oaklandside