Woods

By indictment, defendant-appellant Charles Woods was accused by the grand jury of Solano County of the crime of murder in that on September 18, 1955, in Vallejo, California, he murdered Nellie Driskell. On November 28th, appellant was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty. On December 5th, the court granted his motion to enter an additional plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. On January 16, 1956, the court granted his motion to withdraw his pleas and to enter a new and different plea. Thereupon, he personally and through counsel entered a plea of guilty. The court received evidence to determine the degree of the crime, thereafter pronounced a judgment of conviction of murder in the first degree, and sentenced appellant to the state prison for life. Throughout the proceedings appellant was represented by counsel.

The sole contention raised by appellant is that as a matter of law the evidence is insufficient to justify the court’s finding him to be guilty of murder in the first degree. He asks this court to reduce the degree of the offense to murder of the second degree. A thorough examination of the entire record, however, convinces us that the trial court’s finding of…