Lujan

Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction in which he was sentenced to prison following his plea to a violation of Penal Code section 245, subdivision (a), assault with a deadly weapon.

Because the defendant was 17 years of age at the time of the offense, he was referred to the Youth Authority pursuant to section 707.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code for an evaluation concerning his amenability to their programs. The Youth Authority (Authority or YA) returned its diagnostic report in which it was found that the defendant was amenable to Authority rehabilitative programs.

At the hearing on the report, the probation officer differed with the Authority and recommended prison. The court sentenced the defendant to prison for the aggravated term of four years. The defendant has appealed, asserting that it was error to sentence him to prison rather than to commit him to the Authority.

Facts

Since defendant pled guilty, no facts were proven. According to the probation report, the victim, Steven Blueford, stated that he was walking through an alley on his way home in Modesto in the early-morning hours of July 1, 1979, when a vehicle approached him. Defendant, aged…