Henning

James D. Richards and James Henning were accused of grand theft of an automobile from Rosina Point and in a separate count of violation of section 503 of the Vehicle Code in that they did wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously take from Rosina Point the said automobile. Richards was accused of having suffered a former felony conviction, which he admitted. A jury trial resulted in the conviction of the defendants; Richards was found not guilty under Count I and guilty under Count II. At the trial Richards declined the services of an attorney and elected to represent himself. He appeals from the judgment and from an order denying his motion for a new trial. Upon defendant’s application for appointment of counsel, we followed our usual practice. (People v. Perez, 162 Cal.App.2d 650 [ 328 P.2d 512 ].) Our own examination of the record disclosed that appointment of counsel would be of no benefit to defendant or to the court; appointment of counsel was denied, defendant was duly notified, afforded an opportunity to file a brief and no brief has been filed.

There was evidence of the following facts: A Chevrolet belonging to Mrs. Point was stolen from a parking lot in Los Angeles on…