Knighton

By information defendant was charged in count I with the offense of issuing a check without sufficient funds in violation of Penal Code section 476, subdivision (a), and in count II defendant was charged with unlawful taking of personal property of Garner Ford, to wit, an automobile, a violation of Penal Code section 487 (grand theft). Additionally, the information alleged a prior conviction in the State of New Mexico for issuing worthless checks, a felony, and that defendant had served a term of imprisonment in that state prison. Before trial and out of the presence of the jury, defendant admitted the prior conviction of the felony as alleged in the information.

The charges against the defendant arise out of his attempted purchase of a 1963 Ford automobile from Garner Ford, a local Ford agency, in February 1963. At the trial according to the testimony of a salesman, Mr. Testa, the defendant came onto the Garner Ford used ear lot on Saturday, February 2, 1963. He assertedly indicated to Testa that he was a newcomer to California from the east, but was employed locally as a mechanical engineer at Hunter Engineering. After looking at many used cars, he stated he had enough money to…