Error and/or relief
The court erred by staying the sentence on the vandalism and first degree residential burglary counts without first imposing a sentence, and we therefore remand to the court to impose a sentence on these counts.
First Holding:
When a court determines that a conviction falls within the meaning of section 654, it is necessary to impose sentence and to stay the execution of the duplicative sentence. The trial court is required to impose judgment on each count, which involves selecting a term, and then staying execution of the duplicative sentence, the stay to become permanent upon defendant’s service of the portion of the sentence not stayed.
This procedure ensures that the defendant will not receive a windfall of freedom from penal sanction if the conviction on which the sentence has not been stayed is overturned. Thus, it is improper to impose no sentence or to stay imposition of the sentence. Under section 654, a court’s failure to impose a sentence before staying it results in an unauthorized absence of sentence.
Authority:
PEN 654
People v. Mani (2022) 74 Cal.App.5th 343, 380
People v. Alford (2010) 180 Cal.App.4th 1463, 1472