Foster

Appellant Terry Lee Foster was convicted by jury trial of three counts of robbery and three counts of false imprisonment effected by violence. (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 236, 237.) On five of the counts the jury also found that appellant personally used a deadly weapon, a knife. (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (b).) In a bifurcated trial the jury also found, pursuant to Penal Code section 667, that appellant had a prior conviction of a serious felony, voluntary manslaughter. The trial court sentenced appellant to a total term of 15 years and 4 months in the state prison.

On December 10, 1985, appellant and codefendant Michael Smith robbed a gas station on Palos Verdes Drive North in Lomita (count I). Smith was armed with a tire iron. On December 13, they robbed Mouws Country Store on Woodruff Avenue in Bellflower (count II). Appellant used a knife and Smith used a tire iron. On December 15, they robbed Ken’s Mini Mart on Woodruff Avenue in Bellflower (count III). Appellant used a knife and Smith used a tire iron. After they obtained the money, they locked two employees and a bystander in the store’s cooler (counts IV-VI). After appellant and Smith left, the victims escaped from the…