Repeat offender back in court after defying order for treatment

A repeat offender who has been the focus of several Project Seattle reports was a no-show in court Friday morning. Francisco Calderon was picked up on a bench warrant Wednesday night, a day after leaving a drug abuse treatment center.

It was suppose to be his first appearance in front of a judge where he could have said why he walked out of the Sea Mar Treatment Center three hours into a court-ordered 30 day stay. Instead, refused to leave his cell.

The municipal court judge reaffirmed his bail of $200,000 and granted a drag order for Calderon’s next court appearance. A drag order allows marshals to forcibly remove him from his cell and bring him to court, in shackles if necessary. He has shown a history of refusing to come to court in the past, the judge said.

On Tuesday, Seattle Municipal Court Judge Adam Eisenberg ordered him to undergo drug abuse treatment as part of his sentence for throwing coffee on a 2-year-old boy who was sleeping in a stroller on a Seattle sidewalk.

Court records show that Calderon has not completed drug abuse and mental health treatment in the past.

His case represents an underlying frustration with criminal justice system that can’t seem to keep repeat offenders in treatment when ordered to do so.

“Detention is a really big deal, you are removing somebody's liberty so it's a high standard and it should be a high standard” said Washington State Hospital Association CEO Cassie Sauer during a previous interview on patient privacy protections.

Municipal courts in Washington don’t have the ability to order a multiple misdemeanor offender like Calderon to an in-custody drug abuse treatment center or directly into a mental health facility like Western State Psychiatric Hospital where patents can’t leave.

“There’s a major gap in our system for repeat misdemeanor defendants just like Francisco Calderon” said Scott Lindsay, the author of the well-publicized System Failure report for the Downtown Seattle Association.

Court records show Calderon is a drug abuser and is experiencing mental illness. He has 15 convictions for assault, nearly all are misdemeanors and not more serious felonies. If they were, a judge would have more authority under the law to confine him into an in-custody treatment center.

“Under our current system, it doesn't matter how many crimes you commit and how frequently you commit them, you will not eligible if it’s a misdemeanor for rehabilitation at Western State,” Lindsay said.

Calderon will be back in front of Judge Eisenberg Tuesday afternoon where the judge will question why he walked out of treatment after agreeing to stay in it.