Error and/or relief
Section 654 barred punishment for the vandalism counts because those offenses involved the same course of conduct and objective as the attempted burglaries. We modify the judgment to impose concurrent terms on the three vandalism, stayed pursuant to section 654. The trial court is directed to prepare an amended abstract of judgment to reflect the corrected sentence
First Holding:
Section 654 generally precludes multiple punishments for a single physical act that violates different provisions of law as well as multiple punishments for an indivisible course of conduct that violates more than one criminal statute. 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.
If, on the other hand, the defendant entertained multiple criminal objectives that were independent of and not merely incidental to each other, he may be punished for independent violations committed in pursuit of each objective even though the violations shared common acts or were parts of an otherwise indivisible course of conduct.
Authority:
PEN 654
In re Raymundo M. (2020) 52 Cal.App.5th 78, 94
Second Holding:
When a trial court determines that section 654 prohibits multiple punishments, it must impose a sentence for the conviction for which punishment is disallowed but stay its execution. Dismissal or imposition of a concurrent sentence is prohibited.
Authority:
People v. Duff (2010) 50 Cal.4th 787, 796
Third Holding:
While the trial court’s abstract of judgment properly stayed execution of punishment on vandalism two of the three counts subject to section 654, the abstract of judgment is not the judgment of conviction and does not control when it differs from the trial court’s oral judgment.
Here, the court’s language at sentencing was ambiguous: it said the vandalism counts would be “concurrent” and they “are 654” without expressly staying imposition of the concurrent sentences. Because the trial court verbally imposed an unauthorized sentence in violation of section 654, we direct that the abstract of judgment be corrected to the extent necessary to comply with section 654.
Authority:
People v. Mitchell (2001) 26 Cal.4th 181, 185