Simply three days after being granted immunity from prosecution underneath California’s psychological well being diversion legal guidelines, a Napa man allegedly dedicated a brutal homicide, prompting critical issues a few system meant to guard public security.
On Tuesday, Napa County prosecutors filed homicide expenses in opposition to Ramiro Ochoa Mendoza, 36, for the killing of Noel Batres, 47, whose physique was discovered underneath a bridge on July 3.
Mendoza, who had a historical past of prison offenses and poor compliance on probation, was deemed mentally incompetent to face trial earlier this yr on misdemeanor expenses together with violating a restraining order and resisting arrest.
Regardless of quite a few makes an attempt by protection counsel to dismiss the instances outright, the Courtroom, following legislative pointers, ordered Mendoza right into a psychological well being diversion program with supervised launch for the 2 remaining misdemeanors.
Mendoza, nonetheless, failed to look for his scheduled psychological well being diversion evaluate and was deemed non-compliant with the phrases of this system.
“Mendoza promptly failed to appear in court for his mental health diversion review and was found to be out of compliance with the diversion program,” the Napa County District Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned.
Even with repeated violations and non-compliance, the court docket was legally required to dismiss expenses as a consequence of Mendoza’s psychological well being standing and the misdemeanor-only nature of his offenses.
“Because the law prohibits prosecution from continuing in cases where a defendant is deemed incompetent on only misdemeanor charges, the court had no choice but to dismiss both remaining cases and did so on July 8, 2025,” the DA’s workplace mentioned.
The dismissal adopted latest legislative reforms, particularly Senate Invoice 317, that bar courts from restoring competency in misdemeanor-only instances, even when the defendant reveals indicators of escalating conduct.
Mendoza was re-arrested on July 11 and now faces homicide expenses with enhancements associated to his prior offenses and the alleged brutality of Batres’ killing.
The case is already fueling debate over the bounds of psychological well being protections and their implications for public security.
“This case highlights the real-world impact of the recent legal reforms, where courts are required to prioritize mental health treatment over traditional prosecution, even when defendants exhibit an unwillingness or inability to comply with court-ordered programs,” Napa County Deputy District Legal professional Katie Susemihl mentioned in an announcement.
A GoFundMe marketing campaign was launched to help with returning Batres’ stays to his dwelling nation of Guatemala.
In line with the web page, Batres was a resident of Napa for 26 years.
“Noel was not perfect by any means. However, he was a wonderful, caring, gentle soul,” the web page learn.
“We ask that you please help us send Noel back home to be seen by his immediate family one last time before they lay him to rest.”
Mendoza was being held with out bail on the Napa County Division of Corrections.
