How to resolve AdBlock issue? LAKEPORT, Calif. — A year after he assaulted the mother of his children and was shot during a struggle with her husband, a Middletown man has been given mental health diversion, with the judge laying out strict guidelines and warning that he will be prosecuted if he drops out of the program.
Judge Shanda Harry approved the mental health diversion request for Justin Simon Lord, 42, during a Wednesday afternoon hearing.
Late on the night of Aug. 8, 2024, authorities said Lord’s former girlfriend and the mother of his three children awoke to find him standing over her bed in her Kelseyville home.
The victim, known in court proceedings as “C.V.,” said an intoxicated Lord grabbed her by her hair, pulled a blade off the ceiling fan and hit her with it, and pinned her against the bed before shoving her into a metal clothes rack.
He then broke a metal bar off the clothes rack, used it to break the bedroom television and then hit C.V. in the head with it, before chasing her and their 9-year-old daughter down a hallway and into the living room, breaking a closet door and another television in the living room as he went.
During the struggle, the child called 911 — it was her call that alerted authorities — and Lord took the phone and threw it out of her reach.
Lord left the home, C.V. and the girl hid in the bathroom and then Lord was involved in a struggle with C.V.’s husband. Lord was shot in the leg and also was found to have a broken leg after the struggle, authorities said.
He was taken to an out-of-county hospital, treated and released. It was not until the end of August 2024 that he was arrested, and he’s remained in custody since then.
Last year, the District Attorney’s Office charged Lord with 11 felonies, one misdemeanor and a special allegation.
The felonies include burglary; inflicting corporal injury on the mother of his children, with a previous conviction for that crime in December 2020; two counts of stalking, with a February 2022 conviction for violating a restraining order; assault with a deadly weapon, in this case, the metal rod from the clothes rack; assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury; vandalism; two counts of making criminal threats, one for C.V. and one for her husband and the neighbor who fought with Lord; and assault with a deadly weapon, a knife, on the man who shot Lord during the struggle.
The misdemeanor charge was for damaging a communications device to prevent help, specifically, when he took the phone from his daughter. The special allegation is based on the violence of the crime, the fact that Lord was armed with a knife, the victims’ vulnerability, his threats, previous convictions and unsatisfactory probation performance.
Despite the violence of the crime and his criminal record, last year Lord’s attorney, Justin Petersen of Ukiah, filed for his case to be handled through mental health diversion, which would completely dismiss the criminal case against Lord.
Enacted in 2018, mental health diversion allows for defendants to be diverted from criminal prosecution into mental health treatment if they meet two key criteria — they have been diagnosed with a mental disorder and if that mental disorder “was a significant factor in the commission of the charged offense.”
If those criteria are met, four other criteria must be met: A qualified mental health expert’s opinion is that the criminal behavior would respond to mental health treatment; the defendant consents to diversion and waives their right to a speedy trial, unless they’ve been found to be an appropriate candidate for diversion in lieu of commitment; the defendant agrees to comply with treatment as a condition of diversion, unless the defendant has been found to be an appropriate candidate for diversion in lieu of commitment for restoration of competency treatment; and the defendant will not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.
Whether Lord met the suitability requirements for mental health diversion was an ongoing question. It resulted in his preliminary hearing — which was held on Sept. 5 — being repeatedly continued for a determination on his suitability.
In all, there were 13 continued hearings for that preliminary hearing from September through June before Harry ordered him to be held to answer to the case in June. From there, another four arraignment hearings were scheduled, with three of them continued and the final one taking place on Wednesday.
Attorneys, judge hold closed door discussions
Ahead of the Wednesday afternoon hearing being called, Judge Harry, Petersen, Senior Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson and C.V.’s attorney Angela Carter spent nearly an hour in Harry’s chambers discussing her decision and the order she planned to give.
Harry, once she emerged and took the bench, acknowledged, “We have had many hearings,” noting the preliminary hearing had been combined with the motion for mental health diversion.
Petersen called to the stand Jennifer Nauert, a Lake County Tribal Health employee who spoke about the mental health assessments done for Lord and the recommendation that he attend a live-in program at Inter Tribal Long Term Recovery Foundation in San Diego which handles both alcoholism and mental health, and which offers culturally sensitive treatment approaches.
“I think this is a suitable program considering the extent of this case,” Abelson said during the court hearing, adding she hopes Lord will take it seriously and there will be benefit for everyone in the community, as well as Lord’s family and victims.
Petersen said he also hoped Lord will take the opportunity to earn a way back into the community and the lives of his children. “This is your chance.”
He added that he believed Lord had never had the chance to address his underlying mental health issues. “I hope you don’t expect to get another chance like this,” said Petersen, noting that if Lord fails, the next step is to go to prison.
Lord nodded as he attorney spoke.
C.V. was then called forward to sit with Abelson at the prosecution table. Asked if she wanted to say anything, she said she wanted to play the four-minute recording from Lord’s phone that he had inadvertently done during the August 2024 break-in and assault.
“He should have to hear what he did to us,” C.V. said.
Petersen objected, Judge Harry initially denied the request and Abelson took C.V. out to speak in the hallway. When they returned, Abelson said C.V. still wished to play the recording and Harry granted it.
In the recording, C.V. could be heard screaming, and directing her daughter to call 911. In the background, Lord’s voice could be heard, as well as what sounded like breaking items.
When the recording ended, C.V. rose from the prosecution table, turned and walked out of the courtroom, not to return.
Harry would note repeatedly in her comments that followed that she was sad C.V. had left, because she wanted to speak to her about her decision. “I want her to feel as comfortable as possible with what’s going on here.”
She also spoke to Lord, explaining, “There’s a lot of findings that the court has to make before one can be granted mental health diversion.”
The judge said that had Lord gone to trial and been convicted, he would have likely received a four to six year state prison sentence. With time served and credits, Lord would most likely have served about a year and a half in state prison.
“There’s a lot of considerations that go into this,” said Harry, telling Lord if he failed to comply with the terms of mental health diversion, he would go back to criminal court. When she asked him if he understood, he said yes.
Harry said the District Attorney’s Office objected to Lord’s suitability for mental health diversion. One factor is dangerousness, and Harry said she had to make a finding that Lord will not pose an unreasonable risk to public safety and that, in the future, he would not commit a “super strike.” Super strikes are crimes that are sexually violent, use weapons, involve weapons of mass destruction, and murder punishable by life without the possibility of parole.
“It is a very high standard,” Harry said.
Harry said Lord has a mental health diagnosis that qualifies him for mental health diversion, specifically, substance use disorder involving alcohol and cocaine; schizoaffective disorder, a condition that includes symptoms of schizophrenia, delusions, mania and depression; and childhood onset post traumatic stress disorder.
The treatment program Lord is being assigned to will deal with his substance abuse and mental health issues, with treatment tailored to his needs, which Harry said is appropriate and necessary for her to allow for mental health diversion.
Harry ordered Lord into two years of mental health diversion, starting on Wednesday. She said he must enter the program in San Diego and complete it, then must go into a sober living environment. Afterward, he must continue treatment as designed for him by Lake County Behavioral Health and pursue lifelong treatment of some sort for substance abuse.
C.V. will be protected by a 10-year civil restraining order and there also are restraining orders protecting her and the children and restitution, said Harry.
Lord is not allowed to drink alcohol and is prohibited from being in Lake County for the coming year.
Harry’s order included having Lake County Probation report to the jail on Thursday morning to fit Lord with an ankle monitor. He will then be released to his sister, who will drive him to the San Diego treatment center.
The judge emphasized that she did not want them stopping anywhere in Lake County — not even for gas or coffee — but to continue south and make their stops after they pass Sacramento. He is then ordered to attend court via Zoom on a regular basis.
“I really wanted to talk to her about all this and I’m sad she left, but I understand her concerns and her stress,” Harry said of C.V.
C.V.’s attorney, Angela Carter, wished Lord well, saying that everyone wants him to succeed. She added of his children, "They're beautiful, amazing people, and they need dad.”
“We all want you to succeed,” said Harry, adding that it’s better for Lord, his children, C.V. and society at large.
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