McDaniel

Grover Cleveland McDaniel was accused by information of two offenses of forgery of a fictitious name. (Pen. Code, § 470.) The information alleged that he had suffered a previous felony conviction of violation of the Dyer Act, another conviction of burglary and had served terms of imprisonment therefor in a federal prison and a state prison in California. Defendant acted as his own counsel in the trial proceedings. He pleaded not guilty and denied the prior convictions. Trial was to the court, which found him guilty of both offenses of forgery and found the priors to be true. McDaniel made a motion for new trial, which was denied, and he was sentenced to state prison for the term prescribed by law. He appeals from the judgment and the order denying him a new trial.

The convictions of forgery were based upon evidence of the following facts: Harold Epstein was the President of Book-eases, Inc., a corporation engaged in the manufacture of furniture at its plant on South Hill Street in Los Angeles. Epstein testified that defendant was employed by the corporation sometime in January 1957 and that the employment terminated one day in the middle of February when defendant failed to show…