Earle

Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction of grand theft in which a prior felony conviction was found to be true. The following is a summary of the evidence presented:

Sol Halfan was an employee of the Morningside Medical Pharmacy in Los Angeles. On June 12, 1962, he was working behind the prescription counter in the pharmacy. The store’s receipts for deposit in the bank, were kept in a moneybag which was placed behind this counter. This area of the store was not open to the public, and the only access to the area was through a private storeroom or through a gate in the front of the counter. At approximately 10 a.m. Halfan was making change at a cash register when he noticed defendant hunched down behind the counter near the spot where the moneybag had been placed. He called to defendant, “Hey, you, what are you doing there?” Whereupon, defendant picked up the moneybag, and carrying it under his arm, ran out of the store. Halfan gave pursuit, chasing defendant around the block twice before overtaking him on a side street. During the chase, Halfan never lost sight of defendant or of the moneybag which defendant had taken from the store.

Milton Cook was a customer in the…