McCoy

Appeal from the judgment of conviction and from an order denying motion for a new trial. At the trial, appellant was represented by the public defender; he is represented on this appeal by court-appointed counsel. We find no error.

Appellant was convicted on two counts of violation of Penal Code, section 217, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to commit murder. It is contended, inter alia, that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that he had a present ability to inflict the intended harm. We therefore briefly state the facts bearing on this issue, as revealed by the transcript.

Following a hit-run accident, in which appellant was the hit-run driver, appellant temporarily abandoned the car that he was driving. A police officer (Simmons) was supervising the towing away of the car, and had left sitting in his patrol car one Watkins, a witness to the accident who had pursued appellant and notified the police. Appellant approached Watkins and offered him $50 to tell the police that appellant’s car had been in its then location since some time before the accident. Watkins refused, and appellant threatened to kill him.

After Simmons returned to the police car,…