People v. Andrews CA6

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 15, 2026
DocketH052713
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Andrews CA6 (People v. Andrews CA6) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Andrews CA6, (Cal. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

Filed 5/15/26 P. v. Andrews CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 statements,” and cried “on and off.” It turns out that a couple of days before he sent the text messages, on February 28, 2020, Andrews had attended an “all-hands” office conference call with a “division president” of UPS, during which others observed him sound “different,” interrupt the president, and make an unsolicited comment about Flynn (i.e., “Ryan Flynn, pay attention”). He was “reprimanded” and “scolded” by senior UPS personnel for his interruption. On February 29, 2020, Andrews texted a co-worker making further derogatory comments regarding Flynn. On March 2, 2020, the police executed a search warrant at Andrews’s residence, which uncovered approximately 20,000 rounds of ammunition and various firearms, including rifles, a shotgun, and handguns. During the search, police also discovered a “Kabar-style” hunting knife, a ballistic vest, a canister of “Tannerit[e],” which is an explosive shooting target, and tactical-style backpacks. One of the backpacks was located near the dining area, and one was near the exterior of a storage shed. Both backpacks contained ammunition, and the backpack near the shed also contained a partially disassembled rifle. The following pictures show a portion of the firearms and ammunition that were found:

3 4 The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint against Andrews on March 4, 2020, listing 25 counts for making criminal threats, possession of assault weapons, possession of materials with the intent to make a destructive device or explosive, and reckless driving while evading arrest. On August 5, 2020, after a preliminary examination, the District Attorney’s office filed an information charging Andrews with five counts of criminal threats (Pen. Code, § 422, subd. (a)), two counts of possession of an assault weapon (Pen. Code, § 30605, subd. (a)), one count of possession of a short-barreled rifle (Pen. Code, § 33210), and one count of reckless driving (Veh. Code, § 2800.2, subd. (a).)

5 B. The Mental Health Diversion Application Andrews filed an application for mental health diversion on February 22, 2023. He claimed that his involvement in the criminal legal system resulted from bipolar disorder involving both mania and depression, combined with substance use. Andrews underwent two psychological evaluations, one by Dr. Brent Hughey and one by Dr. Carolyn Murphy. Hughey interviewed Andrews in March 2020 and summarized Andrews’s psychological status as including bipolar type I disorder and a history of multiple substance use. Hughey recommended comprehensive mental health involvement and ongoing mental health services. Murphy evaluated Andrews on January 27, 2021. She observed that Andrews’s behavior was consistent with bipolar mania, and she noted the need for Andrews to maintain sobriety to prevent a return of manic symptoms. Murphy concluded that Andrews would not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety if treated in the community because he did not have a history of significant hands-on violence and was in remission—but she also stated this would need to be re-evaluated biannually throughout his treatment. As a preface to the risk assessment in her report, she noted that “it is usually not possible to confidently predict dangerous behavior in individual cases, as research is based upon group norms that individual test scores are compared to.” While the present case was still pending, Andrews committed new criminal offenses after the evaluations. In the first incident, on March 7, 2022, police contacted Andrews after a report of a discharged firearm. Although no firearm was found, Andrews was confrontational with the police and the situation escalated to the point where he was placed on an overnight hold under Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150 (5150 hold). In another instance on May 3, 2022, Andrews had not taken his medication, was drinking alcohol, and was found behaving erratically. He scratched the hood of a car, damaged its spoiler, and again resisted officers as they initiated a

6 subsequent 5150 hold. In another incident, Andrews threw an unknown substance at a nurse at the county jail on May 21, 2022 and was charged with misdemeanor battery.

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People v. Andrews CA6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-andrews-ca6-calctapp-2026.