People v. Andrews CA6

── People v. Andrews CA6 ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: May 15, 2026 Category: General Filed 5/15/26 P. v. Andrews CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT THE PEOPLE, H052713 (Santa Clara County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. C2003698) v. THOMAS JOSEPH ANDREWS, Defendant and Appellant. This appeal arises from a denial of an application for mental health diversion. Defendant and appellant Thomas Joseph Andrews argues that the trial court erred in finding that he would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety if treated in the community. We conclude that the trial court’s decision was supported by substantial evidence—in particular, the evidence that Andrews had accumulated a vast quantity of firearms and ammunition, coupled with the statement that he had planned a potential mass casualty event “for years.” Although there was evidence to indicate that Andrews was willing and able to respond favorably to mental health treatment, we cannot conclude that the trial court’s decision to weigh the evidence as it did was an abuse of discretion. Accordingly, we affirm.  I. BACKGROUND1 A. The March 1, 2020 Incident Andrews worked as a manager for United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) in Sunnyvale, California. On March 1, 2020, he sent a series of threatening text messages to two groups of employees at UPS—one group with 20 employees and the other with 25 employees. Among the many messages he sent were: (1) a photograph of himself in front of the Sunnyvale UPS facility playing the song “Murder on My Mind” by YNW Melly; (2) a text stating, “I am capable of incredibly horrific acts in defense of those that I love.”; (3) a picture of a UPS logo with a black mourning band across it; (4) a photograph of a freshly skinned and bleeding animal skull; (5) a video clip of the “King Kong ain[’]t got shit on me” scene from the movie “Training Day”; (6) a video clip of “I’m not fucking leaving” from “The Wolf of Wall Street”; (7) a video clip of the boardroom massacre scene from “Dogma”; (8) a music video for the song “Revenge” by Joyner Lucas; and (9) maps and directions to the UPS San Francisco facility (San Bruno Avenue) where a previous shooting had occurred. Andrews also included Google searches for the Chief Executive Officer of UPS and various UPS office locations, as well as screenshots of the home address of one of his previous supervisors at UPS, Ryan Flynn. Late in the evening, at 11:13 p.m., Sunnyvale Police Department officers identified Andrews’s car and pursued him, during which Andrews did not immediately pull over and instead streamed a Facebook Live video for a little over 20 minutes. During the video, he stated, “So this is how it ends,” spoke in rhyme “for almost the entirety of [the] 20 minutes,” discussed employee compensation at UPS, mentioned local 1 Because Andrews ultimately resolved his case with a no contest plea, we take the facts from the preliminary examination hearing and the diversion hearing, the documents addressed at these hearings, as well as the briefing on a bail motion and motion to suppress. 2 media personalities, and made random references to the then-quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. Upon his arrest, he displayed an “aggressive demeanor … clenching his fists while he was seated,” made “nonsensical stat