LOS ANGELES — An accused woman who reportedly waited at the courthouse since 8:30 a.m. and repeatedly took time off work appeared Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Airport Courthouse, where Commissioner Humberto Benitez found her mental health diversion treatment plan insufficient despite the defense identifying several programs in which she was participating.
According to court records, the accused is charged with willful cruelty to a child under California Penal Code Section 273a(b). The charge stems from an alleged Feb. 3, 2026, incident involving a 13-year-old minor.
During the pretrial hearing, Deputy Public Defender Rachael Denny told the court that the accused was receiving psychiatric treatment and participating in parenting, Alcoholics Anonymous and anger management classes.
However, Benitez said the proposed treatment plan did not provide enough detail about what the accused was doing and what services she was receiving.
The court’s concerns about the treatment plan came as the assigned prosecutor requested additional time to review the mental health diversion motion.
Deputy District Attorney Niki Razipour explained that she was specifically assigned to the case but had not previously received the motion.
Denny opposed granting additional time, stating that the defense had filed the mental health diversion plan two weeks earlier. She also emphasized that the accused had been waiting at the courthouse since 8:30 a.m. that morning and continued to take time off work to attend her required appearances.
The defense also asked Benitez to modify the accused’s own-recognizance release conditions by ending her SCRAM monitoring. Denny said the accused had been subject to alcohol monitoring for approximately three months and argued that she had otherwise been participating in treatment and educational programs.
Razipour opposed removing the monitoring condition, citing the age of the minor involved in the case and two reported violations. The prosecution maintained that additional time was needed to speak with the alleged victim and other witnesses before the accused’s release conditions were changed.
Court records indicate that the accused was ordered to enroll in SCRAM monitoring by May 22, 2026. The condition involved a VeriTrack BART device, which administers remote breath-alcohol tests rather than tracking the wearer’s GPS location.
Records discussed during the hearing documented several low-battery and critical-battery alerts involving the device in July. A case manager also reported unsuccessfully calling the accused and her emergency contact on July 14 before the accused later returned the call.
According to the prosecution and the report, the accused told the case manager that the device had been plugged in on her nightstand. The case manager reminded the accused that her device needed to remain connected to its charger for at least six hours each day.
Denny argued that the reported violations resulted from the device malfunctioning rather than the accused intentionally failing to comply with the court’s conditions. She added that the device had since been fixed and maintained that there should not be further problems.
Benitez declined to terminate the SCRAM condition, citing the two reported violations. He also remained unsatisfied with the information provided in the accused’s treatment plan, despite the defense’s statements that she was receiving psychiatric care and attending three additional programs.
The proceedings will continue while the assigned prosecutor reviews the mental health diversion motion and the defense provides more information about the accused’s treatment. Until then, the accused will remain subject to alcohol monitoring and will have to return to court, requiring another appearance after the defense said she had already repeatedly missed work to attend court.
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