Poole

Defendant was found guilty, in a trial by the court, of robbery in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 211a), and a prior felony conviction of robbery was found to be true. The ease was submitted to the court on the transcript of the preliminary examination with no additional evidence being offered by either side.

Shortly after 4 a.m. on January 9, 1963, a man wearing a trenchcoat, rubber gloves and a silk stocking pulled over his head, entered the lobby of the Tliunderbird Hotel in El Segundo. At the point of a gun he ordered the four hotel employees on night duty into the manager’s office and forced *40 them to lie on the floor. Even though the man had a stocking over his face the manager was able to recognize him as defendant. The manager was ordered to accompany defendant to the front desk, where defendant took the cash box, and then to the location of the hotel safe. After the manager convinced defendant that he did not have the combination to the safe, defendant took a cigar box containing $498 in cash which the manager kept in his office and left after warning the employees to keep quiet and to remain on the floor for several minutes. A few seconds after defendant left the…