‘Antifa’ Defendant Stuns SD Court With Insanity Plea in Pacific Beach Riot Case

Jeremy White entered a surprise insanity plea Monday and a fellow Angeleno accepted a 32-month plea-deal sentence for his part in the 2021 Pacific Beach clashes with Donald Trump supporters.

In downtown Superior Court, Luis Francisco Mora pleaded guilty to conspiracy to riot and an assault charge — tear-gassing a woman at the “Patriot Rally” on Jan. 9, 2021.

San Diego attorney Dante Pride said Mora, his 32-year-old client, had faced a nine-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine if found guilty by a jury.

But outside of court, Pride said Mora was being “hometowned” — getting harsher treatment than San Diego defendants.

“If you look at the list of defendants that are left, only out-of-towners are left,” said Pride, referring to White, 41, and Brian Cortez Lightfoot Jr. — both represented by Bay Area lawyers.

District Attorney Summer Stephan’s batting average in the antifa-focused case thus rose to .818 — with nine of the 11 original defendants pleading guilty to reduced charges and headed to prison.

Attorney Curtis Briggs struck out in his efforts to win a mental health diversion for his client, White. Briggs also failed to persuade a judge to drop charges under a First Amendment argument.

John Hamasaki, representing Lightfoot, 27, told Judge Daniel Goldstein that his client also was considering a plea deal. (Tuesday morning, Hamasaki wrote me: “The prosecution says Brian will not get an offer. So we are here for the full trial.”)

But the biggest stunner in Room 1901 Monday was White adding the insanity plea.

It took several requests, however, before Jeremy Jonathan White finally uttered what Goldstein called “the magic words”: I plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

That defense is a result of an assessment of White by Dr. Martin Williams, a Briggs-paid psychologist who found that White “disassociated” during a counterprotest incident — basically blanking out.

Judge Goldstein spent 20 minutes in chambers researching whether White could enter an insanity plea this late in the case — more than two years after the original indictments.

Goldstein said he was worried about “bifurcation issues” — the fact that a second trial would be needed to decide whether White was insane under California law.

Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey, one of three prosecutors in court Monday, doubted whether “good cause” was shown for the change of plea.

She assailed “gamesmanship” by the defense, and said there was “very little or no evidence for an NGI plea,” which she also called “cavalier.”

Insanity defenses are rare, with one expert saying fewer than 30 a year are attempted in the state.

The burden is on the defendant to establish that they were incapable of knowing or understanding the nature and quality of their act or incapable of distinguishing right from wrong.

Goldstein ultimately agreed to let White plead insanity, saying: “Whether I think it’s baloney or not, there are legal steps we go through.”

White acknowledged that he understood an insanity finding could lead to his spending life in a mental facility.

Briggs argued for a mental health diversion program for White, his client, who Williams said suffers PTSD after brutal attacks at protests and at the hands of police.

When pressed by the judge why someone with post-traumatic stress disorder would want to subject himself to more of the same, Briggs likened White to “first responders” with PTSD who nevertheless return to work day after day.

Goldstein interjected: “You know I was a Santa Barbara paramedic for 13 years.”

Briggs said the antifa “black bloc” gear White wore in Pacific Beach was his “suit of armor.”

“He was suiting up to protect himself and others,” Briggs said, later adding that White acted on a “moral imperative” and left Pacific Beach “thinking they were heroes.”

Goldstein wondered how White, with “Florence Nightingale Syndrome,” would be “prepared for combat” and “seek out violent events (and) not shy from them.”

The judge twice said White was “like a battered woman” who returns to an abusive partner.

Finally, Goldstein rejected the PTSD diagnosis as reason for a mental health diversion that would spare White from going to trial.

“He engaged in … violent behavior,” Goldstein said. That’s “not what one (does) with PTSD.”

He said Briggs’ argument could likewise be applied to the January 6 rioters, who could say they were motivated by claims of a stolen vote and “they were all cheated. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

(Dr. Morgan Shaw, a forensic psychologist for the prosecution, didn’t interview White but studied the Williams report and other evidence. She rejected the PTSD diagnosis as well. Her report wasn’t publicly available.)

On the free-speech issue, deputy DA Will Hopkins said a ruling that allowed neo-Nazis to march was different from the Pacific Beach counterprotest.

“Tear gassing is not protected by the First Amendment,” Hopkins said.

Goldstein said: “I can dress up for Halloween in black armor, but if it’s part of a conspiracy to commit a riot, it’s not protected” by the Constitution.

Briggs warned the court to pay close attention to legitimate First Amendment activities, adding: “We’re skirting very close to the line of prosecuting someone for their beliefs.”

Goldstein said he’d be in charge of voir dire — jury questioning — and allow both sides 20 peremptory challenges, the ability to excuse jurors without a reason. (Both sides could suggest questions.)

Sensing incredulity on his voir dire vow, Goldstein said: “Mr. Hamasaki, you can attach your lower jaw (back) to your upper jaw.”

Each side told how many days they’d take presenting witnesses and evidence (seven for the prosecution and two for the defense). Goldstein studied his courtroom wall calendar.

Taking “dark days” into account, the trial is expected to last five weeks, beginning Monday and ending with jury deliberations in late April.

But Briggs told Times of San Diego he had one more “wild card” to play: a possible trial stay by the state Supreme Court.

Behind the scenes, Briggs said, he petitioned another local court for funding to defray trial expenses amid an indigent client. That judge denied his motion. So on Friday he went to the 4th District state Court of Appeal — which “summarily denied” his money request.

Then Briggs appealed to the state Supreme Court.

“It was just accepted (for review),” he said. “It’s a long shot. The motion is interesting. You’ll probably like it.”

Updated at 8:49 a.m. March 19, 2024.