By Tanya Decendario
WOODLAND – Defendant Larry Tillman—in custody for more than 60 days—has yet to receive treatment or admission to a state hospital. He has been languishing in county jail.
The Yolo County Superior Court department appeared stunned after learning Tillman’s place on the waiting list at Napa State Hospital, and Judge Paul Richardson asked, “Obviously, there has been no movement here. Where are we in this case?”
Deputy Public Defender Ronald Johnson said, “I haven’t heard any status updates about where he is on the list.”
Judge Richardson turned to Brenda Ray, representative of Department of State Hospitals and asked, “What can you tell us regarding his position on the list?
Ms. Ray glanced at her notes, claiming, “As of yesterday, he’s number 121 on the waitlist for Napa State Hospital.”
Judge Richardson exclaimed, “121?!” And then added, “Is that going backwards from where we were last time?”
Absent in the last court appearance, Ms. Ray answers, “To me, he’s going in the right direction but I wasn’t in the last court appearance.” She estimated April 2, 2021, would be his approximate 
admission date.
For a minute, the courtroom went silent.
In disbelief, Judge Richardson declared, “That’s a long way off ma’am. This is just unacceptable. We can’t have him just sitting in jail.”
Mr. Tillman interrupted, pleading, “Please, I didn’t [even] do anything. I didn’t [even] do the charges in the first place.”
Ms. Ray suggested, “We are hoping that the impending vaccine may speed up the estimated date of admission for Mr. Tillman and others. We are going to shortly be circulating a proposed order for Telehealth to see if we can get Mr. Tillman on that.”
Mr. Tillman continued to intrude in the conversation: “We know why I’m here okay.”
Deputy District Attorney Chris Bulkeley implored him: “Mr. Tillman,” in an attempt to calm him down.
Judge Richardson said, “Hold on Mr. Tillman.”
Tillman cried out, “No, no not hold on. Mr. Bulkeley District Attorney, you know why I’m here okay?”
Again, Judge Richardson tried to halt Tillman with, “Hold on Mr. Tillman.”
Mr. Tillman shouted at everyone, saying, “So, F*** you, F*** you, and F*** you!”
Judge Richardson responded nonchalantly, “That’s fine.”
For the last time, Mr. Tillman continued to yell “F*** you” to all before being taken out of the court.
PD Johnson attempted to get the conversation back on track: “I don’t know what else I can say on this. If we’re talking about an April admission date that’s more than seven months since the order and he’s been in custody a lot longer than that.”
He explained his frustrations, saying, “It’s becoming too normal to come in here and see that they’re gonna take eight to nine months to get someone into the state hospital… I mean it’s unacceptable and I’ve said this over and over and I don’t know what else I can say.”
Judge Richardson agreed, noting, “Well, this is the problem. I thought we were moving forward in this case…to hear that he is 120 plus on the list at this point. Mr Johnson, how many days in has it been for Mr. Tillman in these cases?”
Aimed at Ms. Ray, Judge Richardson explained his concerns: “April date at this point, given the fact that today is Dec. 9. Mr. Tillman is entitled to some kind of treatment… it’s just too lengthy.”
He added, “I would ask if there’s anything that can be done but I don’t think April is at all in the ballpark and it is not at all what was agreed to between Yolo County and the state regarding the handling of these cases.”
Ms. Ray reassured the court, “We do have a proposed order for Telehealth which may help Mr. Tillman…that would give him some relief when he’s in the county jail.”
Judge Richardson ordered Ms. Ray to distribute Telehealth materials to the court and asked all parties to schedule a hearing for this Friday, Dec. 11, to further discuss the matter.
Tanya Decendario is a third-year student studying Legal Studies at UC Berkeley. She is originally from Sonoma, CA, but currently resides in Albany, CA.
To sign up for our new newsletter – Everyday Injustice – https://tinyurl.com/yyultcf9
Support our work – to become a sustaining at $5 – $10- $25 per month hit the link:
