Trotter

Robert Wayne Trotter appeals his conviction by jury trial of vehicle theft (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (b)), perjury (Pen. Code, § 118), and theft by false pretenses (Pen. Code, § 532). The court found true a prior robbery conviction (Pen. Code, §§ 667.5, subd. (b); 667, subds. (d) & (e), 1170.12). He contends the court improperly instructed the jury on the requirements of proof of perjury, and permitted an amendment to the information to allege the prior strike conviction under the “Three Strikes” law after the jury was discharged.

Background

On September 28, 1996, Gerald Robert Cuff returned from vacation and discovered that his 1929 Ford Model A pickup truck had been stolen from a fenced yard at his Sonoma equipment company. Also missing was the truck’s certificate of title listing him as the registered owner, which Cuff had last seen on his desk a week or two prior thereto. Cuff’s employee, Edward Vladyka, saw the truck in the yard when he left work at 3:00 p.m. on September 26, and noticed it gone the next day.

On September 27, 1996, appellant told William Hodges, owner of Heavenly Car Rental and Repair (Heavenly) in Vallejo, that he had won the truck, and sold it…