Thomas

I respectfully dissent.

The case against the defendant was a very strong one. Charlotte Root, the victim of the rape and robbery, had ample opportunity to ob *967 serve defendant at close range over a prolonged period of time as she accompanied him through the various rooms in her home. Lighting conditions were excellent—it was approximately 10:30 a.m. on a “[n]ormal, sunny morning.” Mrs. Root testified that she made a special effort to concentrate on defendant’s appearance and clothing, because she wanted to furnish the police with a good description of her assailant. She gave the police a detailed description of defendant: a black male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, approximately 30 to 35 years old, wearing dark brown slacks, a dark red shirt and a tan buckskin or suede jacket with a rip in the shoulder seam.

Mrs. Root was first shown a book of several hundred photographs of black male individuals. Defendant’s photograph was not in this book, and Mrs. Root made no identification of any of the photographs. Also, she made no identification when shown other groups of photographs which did not include defendant’s photograph. However, when shown a group of photographs which…

*962 Opinion

George W. Thomas appeals from a judgment of conviction 1 based on a jury finding him guilty of burglary, two counts of robbery, rape and assault with a deadly weapon. (Pen. Code, §§ 459, 211, 261 and 245, subd. (a).)

After a trial held in October 1977, in which the jury was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared, a retrial commenced on September 11, 1979. Appellant moved to exclude prior convictions for burglary and robbery. The court ordered that the burglary conviction be stricken but that evidence of the robbery conviction could be used for impeachment purposes during trial.

Evidence produced at trial revealed that on May 24, 1977, between 10 and 10:30 a.m., Charlotte Root took her dog for a walk. Upon her return to her home, appellant pushed her through the door of her house. Appellant, who was armed with a knife, told Mrs. Root and her invalid husband that he wanted money. Mr. and Mrs. Root gave appellant their money and Mr. Root gave him his wristwatch.

Appellant then stated that he wanted more money and Mrs. Root informed him that there was more upstairs. Appellant followed Mrs. Root upstairs and after she gave him more money he asked for…