Blankenship

Defendant Anthony Dean Blankenship was convicted by jury verdict of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211) and attempted second degree murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187-189, 664). As to each offense, allegations of firearm use (Pen. Code, § 12022.5) and infliction of great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 12022.7) were found to be true. An allegation of a prior serious felony conviction (Pen. Code, § 667) was bifurcated, tried to the court, and found to be true. Defendant was sentenced to state prison for a term of 19 years.

Defendant has appealed from the judgment and has also filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus which has been consolidated with the appeal. The only contention on appeal is that the trial court erred in excluding evidence that a third party orally confessed to the crimes of which defendant was convicted. The writ petition is based on a written declaration by the same third party confessing to the crimes.

Facts

Our statement of facts is based on the evidence received at defendant’s trial.

Catherine Long, age 59, was the owner of a gas station in Lucerne Valley. On January 31, 1983, she opened the station at 7 a.m. Defendant was her first customer, arriving at…