Strickland

Defendant was charged with the crime of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211) to which he pleaded not guilty. When the case was called for trial on February 16, 1965, he changed his plea to guilty. In response to the district attorney’s questions he told the court he wished to plead guilty because he was in fact guilty, and that his counsel had advised him as to his rights and the nature of the charge and that no promise of leniency had been made by anyone. Defendant then waived time for sentence so that a probation report might be prepared. On March 10, 1965, after reading the probation report, the court (in dept. 103) found that defendant was probably addicted to the use of narcotics and ordered that civil proceedings be initiated against him under Penal Code section 6451.

Inasmuch as defendant had been convicted of robbery, Penal Code section 6452 made him ineligible for civil commitment unless the court proceeded under the exception which was set forth in section 6451 in the following language: “In unusual cases, wherein the interest of justice would best be served, the judge may, with the concurrence of the district attorney and defendant, order commitment notwithstanding Section…