Accused Dave Chappelle Attacker Isaiah Lee He is trying to get out of jail and into a mental health program, The Post has learned.
Lee, 23, appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday morning, wearing a yellow prison top and blue soles, and remained mostly quiet as his attorney said she would file a motion for him to enter the show.
His right arm, which had previously been in a sling after being broken during the May 3 incident on Chapelle’s “Netflix is a Joke” show in Los Angeles, appeared healed and he sat next to his attorney with his hands. handcuffed behind the back.
His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Chelsea Padilla, requested that her client be placed in a mental health diversion program.
Prosecutors are going to file a motion opposing the motion, Los Angeles Assistant City Attorney Giselle M. Fernandez said, and a hearing on the matter has been set for August 23.
California Mental Health Bypass allows a person charged with a crime the opportunity to go through a mental health treatment program, such as counseling. If they comply with the program’s demands, their charges could be dismissed.
Fernandez said the motion to move Lee to an alternative program could be a long process.
“When (the Public Defender) argues that someone does not have full capacity, usually that person is sent to be evaluated,” Fernández told The Post on Monday. “They take mental health classes and are in ‘fun’ for a period of time. And if they did finish the diversion, a case could be dismissed if they do the mental health diversion successfully.”
The prosecutor added: “The stakes are high. There has to be an evaluation and there has to be a motion and the judge has to grant it.”
Lee allegedly accosted Chapelle onstage and was initially arrested on felony assault with a deadly weapon. He later had his charges demoted to minor assault.
He also has an unrelated attempted murder case involving a former roommate.
Lee had previously insisted that he had no mental health issues, but later admitted that he suffered from bipolar depression disorder and was on medication for it.
He told The Post in an exclusive interview in jail that he was “provoked” by Chapelle’s jokes about the LGBTQ community and homelessness while insisting that he never meant to harm the funnyman.
“I identify as bisexual … and I wanted him to know what he said he was provoking,” Lee said from the Twin Towers Correctional Center in Los Angeles. “I wanted him to know that next time he should first consider passing his material on to people he might affect.”
He later said that he was inspired by Will Smith’s slap in the face of Chris Rock at the Oscars.
Lee has pleaded not guilty to the attack. and still locked up in the Los Angeles County Twin Towers jail with a total bond of $1 million for both cases.
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