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A soft on crime California judge has sparked fury after a wave of violent criminals were put on the state’s mental health diversion program — with at least one now on the run.
Judge Lana Kim has released dozens of offenders back onto the streets, including at least nine violent felons in the last three years.
The Los Angeles Superior Court judge did this by granting diversion, a court program that lets defendants avoid a criminal conviction and jail time.
The cases involved attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, alleged hate crimes and a terrifying wrong-way crash on the 405 Freeway.
The pattern tracks with Kim’s own public comments about incarceration.
“I don’t want to put anyone in jail,” Kim told the Daily Journal in a 2023 profile titled “Cheerleader for People”.
Kim, who spent roughly 15 years as a prosecutor before taking the bench, also explained that she does not approach cases with incarceration in mind as the ideal outcome, according to the report.
The latest flashpoint centers on Courtney Perrone, who was arrested in Santa Monica in August 2024 and accused of trying to kidnap an 8-year-old girl.
She was put into a diversion program, and now is missing, according to a report by the LAPD. Perrone was last seen on May 17 near the University of Southern California campus, according to LAPD.
Her disappearance comes more than a year after Judge Lana Kim granted her mental health diversion in February 2025, despite prosecutors’ objections.
Perrone remains scheduled for a court status conference on Feb. 19, 2027, ahead of a preliminary hearing, according to court records.
The underlying allegations were alarming.
Santa Monica police alleged Perrone approached an eight-year-old girl and a neighbor in an alley, claimed she was with the Russian police and tried to pull the child away.
When the neighbor intervened, a struggle erupted, police alleged. Perrone then allegedly tried to pry open the neighbor’s car door and brandished a switchblade before fleeing.
Officers later arrested her in a nearby supermarket parking lot. Police believed she was unhoused and living in her car.
Authorities also reported Perrone had outstanding New Hampshire warrants on suspicion of stalking and forgery and was on probation following an assault with a deadly weapon conviction in Nevada.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office blasted the diversion decision.
A spokesman told The Post: “Courtney Perrone’s case is an example of the dangerous pattern we have repeatedly seen coming from the Office of Diversion and Reentry here in Los Angeles County.
“Perrone, armed with a knife, allegedly tried to kidnap an 8-year-old girl off the street. What made matters worse, she had a history of prior arrests for assault and battery.
“Despite this violent history, and over our strong objection, the Court granted mental health diversion in February 2025.
“As a result, Perrone never had to face the consequences of her actions or accept responsibility for her crimes.
“Now, over a year later, Perrone has absconded from her mental health treatment facility and is missing.
“The decision to grant diversion for a suspect with a violent history and a violent offense demonstrates a complete failure of this justice system.
“When our prosecutors object to these placements, we are trying to avoid this exact outcome for victims, and in this case, for defendants too.”
Perrone is not the only defendant accused of violent conduct to receive diversion from Kim.
Lisa Heflin was accused of leading Los Angeles police on a chaotic chase that ended with her driving the wrong way on the 405 Freeway and crashing head-on into vehicles in Brentwood in 2024.
Police alleged Heflin entered the freeway against traffic before slamming into two cars 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.
Despite prosecutors’ objections, Heflin was later admitted into diversion instead of being sent to jail, according to court records.
But the most consequential challenge to Kim’s approach came in the case of Job Taylor.
Prosecutors accused Taylor of carrying out three unprovoked attacks with a metal pipe in Santa Monica over roughly one hour on March 3, 2023.
The final assault unfolded near the Expo Station, where Taylor allegedly beat a man living in a nearby encampment with the pipe.
Two victims were hospitalized, prosecutors said.
One victim, 64-year-old Christian Hornburg, survived but suffered severe, life-altering injuries.
Taylor was charged with attempted murder, three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury.
The case also carried multiple hate-crime enhancements.
Prosecutors alleged Taylor shouted racial slurs during the attacks and later told authorities he had been sent to Santa Monica to target Black residents.
Yet on March 12, 2025, Kim granted Taylor entry into Los Angeles County’s mental health diversion program rather than allowing the prosecution to move toward trial.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office appealed, warning Taylor posed an unreasonable risk to public safety.
The appellate court agreed.
In a Sept. 30, 2025, decision, California’s Second District Court of Appeal found Taylor had a history of abandoning treatment, had recently been released from a psychiatric facility before the attacks and continued to pose a danger to the community, according to prosecutors.
The court concluded there was no evidence Taylor would comply with voluntary treatment if granted diversion.
After granting Taylor a rehearing in November 2025, the appellate court again sided with prosecutors on March 5, 2026, finding the trial court abused its discretion by granting pretrial mental health diversion.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman hailed the outcome at the time as “a meaningful win for public safety in California.”
“Mental health diversion may be appropriate for defendants with mental illnesses who engage in low-level, non-violent crimes,” Hochman said.
“However, in situations where a defendant has committed violent acts, particularly those seriously injuring innocent victims, this decision now gives judges the tools they need to deny pretrial diversion for defendants who constitute an unreasonable risk to public safety if released into the community.”
Kim’s rise to the bench came with overwhelming support from inside the courthouse.
She ran unopposed for election to the Los Angeles Superior Court after the only other person who pulled nominating papers for the same seat chose to compete in another race.
Fifty-nine sitting Los Angeles Superior Court judges endorsed her candidacy.
Kim was admitted to the California bar in 2004 and earned her law degree from Whittier College.
The Post reached out to Kim for comment on this story.
Jonathan Fu, Deputy Director of Media Affairs and Production, said: “Judicial Ethics prohibits judges from commenting publicly about a pending or impending proceeding in any court and requires that court staff under the judge’s direction and control similarly abstain. Judge Lana Kim respectfully declines your request to discuss this matter.”
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