Exiting his Orcutt garage, Rockie Daren Ginter already had his hands raised as he approached Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies on the morning of his arrest. Owned by Ginter’s parents, the house on Genoa Way was emitting flames and black smoke, according to court documents.
Ginter allegedly told deputies about the voices in his head and wanting to silence them. He was charged with deliberately starting the house fire, using gasoline and a propane blowtorch.
Paranoid delusions, hallucinations, and other symptoms consistent with schizophrenia were direct causes of his June 3, 2024, offense, according to a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge who granted Ginter mental health diversion on April 3. In her ruling, Judge Denise M. Hippach referred to state Senate Bill 215, a 2018 law that introduced diversion to the state’s justice system.
“The purpose of this legislation was to treat individuals suffering from mental health disorders, thereby making communities safer, rather than simply incarcerating these individuals,” Hippach wrote.
Defendants diagnosed with a mental health disorder can apply for the program, except for those charged with blacklisted crimes such as murder or rape.
Between July and December 2024, the court deemed Ginter incompetent to stand trial, a route he ultimately waived in March to petition for diversion. As part of her approval, Judge Hippach ordered Ginter, 52, to complete an 18-month residential treatment program at the Los Angeles Transition Center.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Madison Whitmore agreed with Ginter’s defense about his eligibility for diversion, but she disagreed with Hippach’s verdict.
Whitmore told the Sun that she argued in court that releasing Ginter into a community-based treatment program raises major public safety concerns.
“There are definitely diversion requests where I’ll agree it’s totally appropriate, and there are some people that definitely benefit and are successful in mental health diversion,” Whitmore said. “Case by case, I consider each person—each defendant—individually, and whether they are suited. … Even in some arsons, I think it is fitting.”
As for Ginter’s case, “diversion should have been denied,” Whitmore said. She pointed to Ginter’s history as a convicted arsonist. In 2006, he was sentenced to 213 days of jail time (143 days of which he served) and five years of probation for setting his condo on fire in 2005.
About a decade after he was released from jail, Ginter’s hallucinatory symptoms worsened, and alcohol and methamphetamine use intensified his psychosis, according to court documents that outlined a forensic psychological evaluation in January.
“My concern, which I argued to the judge, is that if he uses [methamphetamine] again, and forgoes his medication again, he could set a third arson,” Whitmore said, “which only by chance might not end up an arson murder.”
Senior Deputy Public Defender Erica Sutherland also referenced Ginter’s 2005 arrest and 2025 psych evaluation in his petition for diversion. She noted that Ginter voluntarily maintained stability after serving his jail sentence by taking antipsychotic medications to keep his mental health issues at bay—until 2018 when he lost his health care coverage.
Today, there are wraparound services to help Ginter receive the medical insurance he needs, services that weren’t available to him after his incarceration, Sutherland told the Sun via email.
“If mental health diversion had existed in 2005, … his entire trajectory might have been different,” Sutherland said. “Safeguards are always discussed to help ensure our clients who we believe are appropriate candidates for [mental health diversion] remain medication-compliant under future stress. … My office looks at coverage through coordinated care networks, including Medi-Cal eligibility.
“We have a team of social workers who connect our clients with resources to help ensure success,” added Sutherland, who has represented more than 20 individuals who qualified for mental health diversion.
If there’s one misconception about the program she wants to dispel, Sutherland said, it’s the belief that diversion is solely a loophole to stay out of jail.
“Mental health diversion is not a ‘free pass.’ … It’s not simply a ‘get well soon’ card and then, ‘goodbye.’ It’s a rigorous, deeply individualized treatment plan,” Sutherland said. “If our clients do not comply—if they stop taking prescribed medications, if they relapse on drugs, if they miss therapy appointments, or if the court otherwise finds they are not meaningfully participating or progressing in treatment—then the court reinstates their criminal charges, and it is extremely likely they will go to prison.”
The risk of falling short of court mandates and being incarcerated isn’t the only consequence that keeps diversion applicants with symptoms similar to Ginter’s in check, Sutherland said.
“When a client experiences auditory hallucinations, it’s tormenting. So our clients’ motivation is not just to avoid prison, it’s also to avoid falling back into a place of suffering,” she said. “Clients who pursue mental health diversion understand more than anyone that their untreated mental illness isn’t simply uncomfortable, it’s life-threatening and terrifying.”
In her ruling, Judge Hippach said that the state of California calls for mental health diversion to be applied “as broadly as possible,” and cited Sarmiento v. Superior Court (2024) as an example of recent case law.
Charged with attempted robbery and diagnosed with major depressive disorder, stimulant disorder, and PTSD, Jeanette Sarmiento applied to the San Diego County Superior Court for diversion but was denied due to her history of drug abuse. The 4th District Court of Appeal overturned that ruling and determined that Sarmiento’s past failures in drug treatment do not prove that she cannot benefit from a mental health diversion program.
When defendants who qualify for diversion are tried and sentenced to jail time instead, Sutherland said they’re vulnerable to becoming “more symptomatic, and when released, would pose a greater risk of offending.”
“Mental health diversion is not just about helping the person in the defendant’s seat—it’s about public safety, … and restoring community trust in a system that historically has not served people with mental illness well,” Sutherland said. “Warehousing mentally ill people in jail and prison does not solve long-term problems. … Our communities are safer and healthier when we address the root cause of behavior.”
Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood can be reached at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 17-27, 2025.
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