Westbrook

I dissent. I would affirm the judgments for the reasons expressed by Mr. Justice Kingsley in the opinion prepared by him for the District Court of Appeal (People v. Westbrook (Cal.App.) 37 Cal.Rptr. 420 ).

Sehauer, J.,* concurred.

Defendant has appealed from three separate judgments. 1 The three appeals have been consolidated.

There is no doubt that defendant committed the acts with which he was charged. That is not disputed. The basic question presented on all three appeals is whether or not the trial courts involved properly handled the issue of the present sanity of the defendant. We are of the opinion that they did not, and for that reason the judgments must be reversed.

Defendant was originally charged with one count of grand theft (Pen. Code, § 487, subd. 3) and a second count of automobile theft (Veh. Code, § 10851). At the time of arraignment his counsel raised the question of present sanity, and in support thereof filed a report of one Henry M. Hamilton, M.D., a psychiatrist employed by the defense. In that report Dr. Hamilton stated that in his opinion, based on electroencephalography and other examinations, defendant suffered from brain damage, and was neither responsible at the time of the commission of the crime, nor sane “within the meaning of Section 1368 PC.” 2 After discussion of the claim, and with no other report or evidence on the issue, the trial judge continued the matter for plea,…