Shipp

Oscar Shipp and La Verne Jones were found guilty of the robbery of Bernard Wilkinson (Count I) and the robbery and first degree murder of Albert Hawley (Counts II and III). For the murder of Hawley the jury fixed the penalties as death for Shipp and life imprisonment for Jones. Jones does not appeal. Shipp’s appeal is automatic. (Pen. Code, § 1239, subd. (b).)

The defendants and both victims were residents of the President Hotel in Los Angeles. Late in the evening on December 30, 1961, two men assaulted and robbed Wilkinson in his room. He was unable to identify his assailants. He testified that he was beaten unconscious, that he suffered three broken ribs and numerous cuts and bruises on his face, that between $7.00 and $8.00 were taken from his person, and that a cigarette lighter was taken from his room.

Hawley occupied a room one floor above Wilkinson’s. The hotel manager found him there on the morning of December 31, and observed that his face was bloody. The manager asked, ‘ Who done it?” and Hawley replied, ‘ Two white men.’’ The police were called, and Officer Hickey was the first to arrive at the hotel. He testified that Hawley’s room was disarranged and that Hawley’s…