'Veterans Court' helps Los Angeles' ex-soldiers

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'Veterans Court' helps Los Angeles' ex-soldiers find the right path after being arrested
By Christina Villacorte, Staff Writer LA Daily News
Posted:
DailyNews.com

Herbert Brown was destined for prison until Veterans Court gave the former soldier a new start.

He'd used drugs for decades to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder from the Vietnam War, and was eventually arrested for selling cocaine to an undercover cop.

Veterans Court, however, allowed him to avoid prison and receive mental health and substance abuse treatment instead.

On Monday, Brown graduated from the program and Judge Miguel Tynan dismissed the charges against him.

"I was in deep trouble," Brown said during the simple graduation ceremony at a courtroom in the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles.

"I'm not good at speeches but I just want to say 'thank you' to everybody," he added.

In all, six wounded warriors became the second batch to graduate from the Los Angeles County Veterans Court program Monday.

"The program did help me out," said Richard King, another veteran. "I'm back on track with a good life again, and I owe it all to this program and the VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which helped provide the treatment)."

Robert Garcia, another veteran, said the program enabled him to go back to school and train to be an alcohol and drug counselor.

"I'm going to college, working on my associate (degrees), and you gave me the opportunity to do these things," he told the court. "Thank you very much."

Veterans Court was launched in 2010, as a collaboration among the county Superior Court, District Attorney's Office, Public Defender's Office, Alternate Public Defender's Office, Office of Public Counsel and the VA.

By shifting veterans away from prison and providing treatment instead, the program has now saved taxpayers about $3 million, according to the DA's Office.

In March, nine veterans became the first batch to graduate from Veterans Court. Another 75 veterans are still undergoing treatment, which lasts at least 18 months.

"They had trouble and they needed help, and it was deemed not only decent but necessary that we do something," said Tynan, a veteran himself.

Chief deputy district attorney Jackie Lacey, a candidate for district attorney, also attended the graduation.

"Thank you for all you've done for me personally by serving this country," she told the veterans. "You're brave people for what you've done, and you deserve the chance the court has given you."

Brown had been an 18-year-old high school basketball star, poised to receive an athletic scholarship to a major university, when he was drafted into the military and sent to fight in Vietnam.

The boy came under sniper fire almost immediately.

"We'd just landed - we ain't even dirty yet," he said. "Someone gave us the all-clear so we were getting ready to get up when the guy next to me got hit in the chest several times, and I saw all this blood come out through his back."

In another incident, Brown suffered severe burns after a truck he was riding in exploded. He was also traumatized after seeing a fellow soldier "blow his brains out."

Exposure to Agent Orange led to his daughter being born missing one hand - one of her arms ended in a stump at the elbow.

Brown said he began taking drugs in the war zone, after fellow soldiers said it helped them cope. His addiction destroyed his marriage, left him estranged from his children, and put him in jail for four years.

A prosecutor wanted to put him behind bars for another six years, but Brown's attorney pushed for his case to go to Veterans Court.

"I don't think anyone among us could have mentally and emotionally come out of that experience and been whole," deputy public defender Lauri Brenner said.

"There was a big struggle to get him into Veterans Court, but he was one that we really had to fight for," she added. "He doesn't belong in prison."

After almost two years in treatment, Brown said the nightmares and flashbacks are fading. He's also stayed sober.

He now intends to look for a job at the VA campus in West L.A.

After handing out their certificates and hugging them, Tynan beamed at the veterans and wished them well.

"I'm not sure who said this but it's true," he said. "Success should not be measured by what you accomplish but by what you overcome." christina.villacorte@dailynews.com - 213-974-8985