People v. DeSpenza

Defendant was charged with manslaughter in violation of section 192, Penal Code, a felony; gross negligence in the operation of a motor vehicle was alleged. The trial court found him to be negligent, “the negligence not being of a gross variety”; adjudged him guilty of manslaughter, a misdemeanor (§ 192, subd. 3(b)); and placed him on probation. Defendant appeals from the judgment and order denying his motion for a new trial.

It is undisputed that around 2 o’clock in the morning of August 25, 1960, defendant, driving a Fiat automobile, ran into the left rear side of a Chevrolet flat-bed truck…