Donnell

After a court trial defendants Donnell and Handcox were each convicted of first degree robbery. Both defendants were sentenced to prison and appeal from the judgment.

Two legal issues are raised by defendants: (1) Whether section 739 of the Penal Code, as interpreted, permitted the prosecutor to file an information charging defendants with robbery (Pen. Code, § 211) and receiving (Pen. Code, § 496), although the complaint filed before the preliminary hearing only charged them with receiving; and, (2) whether defendants could forestall a trial and conviction for robbery by pleading guilty to receiving.

These facts were proved at the preliminary hearing: On November 13, 1975, sometime between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m. a 1962 Chevrolet owned by one Robert Campbell was stolen while parked at 8120 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles.

Father Thomas W. McLaughlin was staying at a motel at 900 West Olympic Boulevard that night. At about 1:10 a.m. “two Negro men” invaded his motel room. He was robbed of a brown leather jacket, about $30 in cash, his driver’s license, credit cards and other items of personal property, including a tie bar and a ring. The key to his motel room was…