Cortze

The information in this case charged appellant, W. Cortez, in separate counts, with having issued two fictitious bank checks with intent to defraud, in violation of section 476a of the Penal Code. It also set forth three prior convictions of felony, all relating to the issuance of fraudulent checks, and showing that appellant was imprisoned in the state penitentiaries of California and Nebraska. Appellant entered pleas of not guilty to the charges embodied in the two counts, stood mute as to the truth of two of the prior convictions, and admitted the third. He was tried before a jury and found guilty on both counts. The jury further found that the charges relating to the prior convictions were true. Judgment of sentence was imposed accordingly.

During the trial he acted as his own counsel, and he has continued so to act throughout this appeal; and he now urges as one ground for reversal that the trial court erred in not appointing suitable counsel to defend him. The record shows, however, that three days subsequent to his arraignment in the superior court and two weeks prior to the date of trial, he appeared before the court and without apparent good reasons terminated the…