California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Ochoa, 2d Crim. No. B266004 (Cal. App. 2016):
Appellant contends that the trial court erred in assuming that the conviction rendered him statutorily ineligible for probation. Although Section 1203.066, subdivision (a) permits a grant of probation for a non-forcible lewd conduct conviction, state prison is the sentencing norm. (People v. McLaughlin (1988) 203 Cal.App.3d 1037, 1039.) "[T]he defendant bear[s] the burden of persuading the court to depart from that norm by granting probation." (Ibid.) Here the trial court considered all the factors in aggravation and mitigation and found the victim was particularly vulnerable and that appellant took advantage of a position of trust. It noted that the victim and victim's mother suffer from "educational and intellectual deficits that I sincerely hope will get addressed."
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