Error and/or relief
The defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a felon in possession of an assault weapon. The trial court erred in sentencing defendant separately on his firearm possession convictions and remand for resentencing consistent with section 654 to stay either one of defendant’s firearm possession convictions.
First Holding:
Section 654 provides that an act or omission that is punishable in different ways by different provisions of law may be punished under either of such provisions, but in no case shall the act or omission be punished under more than one provision. Whether a course of criminal conduct is divisible and therefore gives rise to more than one act within the meaning of section 654 depends on the intent and objective of the actor. If all of the offenses were incident to one objective, the defendant may be punished for any one of such offenses but not for more than one.
The defendant’s intent and objective are factual questions for the trial court; to permit multiple punishments, there must be evidence to support the finding the defendant formed a separate intent and objective for each offense for which he was sentenced.
Authority:
People v. Rodriguez (2009) 47 Cal.4th 501, 507,
People v. Capistrano (2014) 59 Cal.4th 830, 885, 886, overruled on other grounds in People v. Hardy (2018) 5 Cal.5th 56, 104
People v. Coleman (1989) 48 Cal.3d 112, 162
Second Holding:
These convictions arose from possession of the same weapon. Specifically, law enforcement officers found a handgun in a shoebox located in defendant’s living room, which was the basis for both firearm possession convictions. Accordingly, defendant may only be punished once for his act of possessing the handgun.
Authority:
People v. Jones (2012) 54 Cal.4th 350, 357 [a single possession or carrying of a single firearm on a single occasion may be punished only once under section 654]