Does section 1203.06 of the California Criminal Code bar a defendant from pleading guilty to a charge of assault with intent to pervert the course of justice?

The 1975 legislation eliminated section 1203's "unusual case" exception in instances in which a defendant uses a firearm in the commission of a serious offense, but contrary to the arguments of the People and of the Governor's press release quoted in the lead opinion, the legislation did not guarantee that every person who uses a firearm in the commission of a serious felony would automatically be denied probation. As noted above, the denial of probation under section 1203.06 follows only if the use of the firearm is specifically alleged in the complaint; the section does not purport to preclude a prosecutor, in his discretion, from declining to plead such an allegation in "an unusual case" nor does it purport to forbid plea bargaining in appropriate cases to avoid ineligibility for probation. (Cf. People v. Flores (1971) 6 Cal.3d 305, 308-309, 98 Cal.Rptr. 822, 491 P.2d 406.) Consequently, the legislation does not have nearly as "automatic" an effect in denying probation as the People suggest.