Conrad

Defendant Arthur Thomas Conrad, Jr., was found guilty by a jury of one count of murder, six counts of robbery in the first degree and two counts of oral copulation. As to each of the six robbery counts he was found to have been armed at the time of the commission of the offenses. It was also found as to two of the robbery counts that defendant intended to and did inflict great bodily harm on the victim. As to the oral copulation counts it was charged and found that those offenses were accomplished by means of force, violence, duress, menace, and threats of great bodily injury. The jury found two prior convictions charged against defendant to be not true. A penalty trial was held as to the murder count and the jury returned a verdict of life imprisonment.

Defendant does not attack the sufficiency of the evidence to support any of the convictions but raises some 17 contentions as to various errors which are alleged to have occurred. Only so much of the facts as is necessary to illustrate the various contentions will be set forth. It is also necessary to discuss the procedural history of the case.

The murder and robbery involved in the first two counts occurred on February…