Raszler

The trial court convicted defendant of violating Penal Code section 245.2 (assault with a deadly weapon on a public transit employee) and sentenced him to the lower term of three years in state prison. On appeal, he contends: (1) the trial court denied him due process of law by excluding the testimony of a court-appointed psychiatrist as to defendant’s mental state at the time he was alleged to have committed the assault, (2) there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction, and (3) the sentence imposed constituted both a denial of equal protection and cruel and unusual punishment. As we conclude defendant’s contentions are without merit, we shall affirm the judgment.

At approximately 11:30 p.m. on July 5, 1983, Jeffrey Schueler, a train attendant for Amtrak, attempted to eject defendant from the seat reserved for Schueler on the Amtrak train bound for Seattle. Thereupon, defendant became agitated, pulled out a knife, and, holding it toward Schueler, announced he was hijacking the train to Florida. The train’s conductor, Charles Halter, was summoned and proceeded to the car in which defendant was constraining Schueler. When Halter, who was wearing a uniform…