Closing a chapter: Youshock’s hospital stay won’t count toward 25-year sentence

Youshock, the then 17-year-old who terrorized the San Mateo high school armed with an arsenal that included a 10-inch sword and 10 pipe bombs he carried in a tactical vest on Aug. 24, 2009, has been declared sane after a five-year stay at Napa State Hospital.

The now 23-year-old appeared for his final hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court Monday morning where a judge decided he would be given 721 days credit for time served against his nearly 25-year sentence, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

At question was whether his stay at the mental institution would count toward his prison sentence. However it will not, as the prosecution and defense agreed in 2011 that he would be found not guilty by reason of insanity on one count of exploding a destructive device with intent to commit murder — the charge on which he was sent to the hospital, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

The remainder of his prison term stems from a jury finding him guilty of six felonies, including attempted murder, as well as Youshock pleading no contest to a second attempted murder charge on which jurors previously deadlocked.

Doctors testified at trial that Youshock may be a paranoid schizophrenic with audio hallucinations who was untreated at the time of his premeditated attack he referred to as “D-Day.” In 2011, the defense and prosecution agreed he should be sent for treatment and, late last year, Youshock requested a hearing on his sanity so that he could begin serving his prison term.

He’s required to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence and, with nearly two years credit, he will likely stay in prison until 2034, Wagstaffe said.

“It’s been a very long journey, but public safety has been served here … by us having him locked away in the area of 26 or 27 years,” Wagstaffe said, also referring to Youshock’s time in the hospital. “Hopefully he’s a different person today than he was then.”

Youshock reportedly spent several months preparing for an elaborate massacre in which he targeted teachers he thought were out to get him, before showing up at the school wearing a welding mask to protect his face from blood splatter.

Carrying the chain saw in a soft guitar case, he was unable to get it started but did manage to set off two pipe bombs. No one was injured and Youshock was tackled by a teacher, then held by another and the principal before police arrived. Primarily planning to target his chemistry teacher and two others he considered “guilty,” Youshock testified he also intended to commit suicide.

After his arrest, he received medication and treatment that he will likely continue at whichever of the state’s 33 prisons the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation decides to send him. He will first be taken to San Quentin likely sometime this week, Wagstaffe said.

Youshock’s attorney Jonathan McDougall could not be reached for comment Monday, but said last week that his client was eager to continue his treatment, serve his time and reunite with his family.

McDougall noted his client “willingly accepted the offer as part of the negotiated plea. He’s accepted the fact that he’ll have a lengthy state prison sentence to serve.”

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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