People v. Lutman

Opinion

POCHÉ, J.

Ronald Lutman appeals from a judgment committing him to the Youth Authority as a youthful offender after a jury found him guilty of rape (Pen. Code, § 261) and assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)). His sole contention here is that the trial *66court erred when, on the second day of jury selection, it refused to allow him to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

At the time regularly set for appellant’s plea, the California test for an insanity defense was the so-called M’Naghten rule: “[T]o establish a defense on the ground of insanity, it must be…