Donovan

Michael Donovan appeals from the judgment entered against him following a jury trial that resulted in his conviction of farging three prescriptions for narcotics in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11715. We shall consider appellant’s numerous assignments of error in sequence following a statement of the relevant facts.

Three pharmacists testified that they had sold Dilaudid, a narcotic, in reliance upon prescriptions purportedly issued by Dr. Wilbur Bailey. Dr. Bailey testified that he had never seen the three prescriptions, that the signatures thereon were not in his handwriting, and that he had never given anyone permission to sign his name thereto. A handwriting expert testified that he had compared the writing on the prescriptions with exemplars of appellant’s handwriting and concluded that they had been written by the same person.

One Leslie Clendenon, a witness called by the prosecution, testified that he had been guilty of passing these prescriptions and theretofore had entered a guilty plea to one count of an information so charging. But to the surprise of counsel for the People, he testified that the writing on the face thereof was that of a girl friend. He…