Collins

Dependant and one Michael J. Yelenovsky were charged with the armed robbery of Josefina Hernandez on March 27, 1963. The information was subsequently amended to include charges of three prior felony convictions against defendant, which he admitted. He pleaded not guilty to the substantive offense.

Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of first degree robbery, and was also found to have been armed at the time of the offense. The court then declared defendant to be an habitual criminal under section 644, subdivision (a), of the Penal Code, and sentenced him to the state prison for the term of his natural life. Defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction and from the sentence, which are actually one and the same. (People v. Sweeney, 55 Cal.2d 27, 33 [ 9 Cal.Rptr. 793 , 357 P.2d 1049 ]; People v. Nance, 181 Cal. App.2d 147,148 [ 5 Cal.Rptr. 130 ].)

Defendant does not, and could not, question the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his conviction. The victim of the robbery identified him as the man who entered her store armed with a pistol, beat her with the gun until she was bleeding and unconscious, and took the small amount of cash she had on hand. Another…