Error and/or relief
Where the defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and felony possession of ammunition, the court should have stayed the sentence on one of the counts under section 654.
First Holding:
Section 654(a), 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. This section precludes multiple punishment for a single act or omission, or an indivisible course of conduct. The purpose of the protection against multiple punishment is to insure that the defendant’s punishment will be commensurate with his criminal liability.
Authority:
PEN 654
People v. Deloza (1998) 18 Cal.4th 585, 591
Neal v. State (1960) 55 Cal.2d 11, 20, disapproved on another point in People v. Correa (2012) 54 Cal.4th 331, 334
Second Holding:
Where, as here, all of the ammunition is loaded into the firearm, an indivisible course of conduct is present and section 654 precludes multiple punishment.
Authority:
People v. Lopez (2004) 119 Cal.App.4th 132, 138
People v. Sok (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 88, 100