Villegas

Charged with murder, defendant was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. The facts indicated that he killed a rival for the affections of his girl friend. The weapon was a screwdriver.

After the court found defendant guilty, he applied for probation. The probation report was apparently favorable in that it disclosed no prior record. At the probation hearing the court first expressed the erroneous view that defendant was eligible for probation (People v. Wynn, 257 Cal.App.2d 664, 676 [ 65 Cal.Rptr. 210 ]), even without a finding that his was an “unusual” case within the meaning of what is now the sixth unnumbered paragraph of section 1203 of the Penal Code. It then announced that it would, nevertheless make a finding “that there were unusual circumstances in the situation which in any event would even justify probation for most of the matters which I have just listed in that . . . .” The deputy district attorney, who was evidently still mulling over the court’s previous announcement that the defendant was eligible for probation even if his was not an unusual case, then directed the court’s attention to the provision of the fifth paragraph of section 1203 which makes…