People v. Shipp

Oscar Shipp and La Verne Jones were found guilty of the robbery of Bernard Wilkinson (Count I) and the robbery and first degree murder of Albert Hawley (Counts II and III). For the murder of Hawley the jury fixed the penalties as death for Shipp and life imprisonment for Jones. Jones does not appeal. Shipp’s appeal is automatic. (Pen. Code, § 1239, subd. (b).)

The defendants and both victims were residents of the President Hotel in Los Angeles. Late in the evening on December 30, 1961, two men assaulted and robbed Wilkinson in his room. He was unable to identify his assailants. He testified…