Can a defendant be punished for leaving the scene of an accident for fleeing the crime under section 654 of the California Penal Code?

Penal Code section 654 prohibits multiple punishments for a single act. Whether a course of criminal conduct is divisible and therefore gives rise to more than one act within the meaning of Penal Code section 654 depends on "the intent and objective of the actor." (Neal v. State of California (1960) 55 Cal.2d 11, 19.) If multiple offenses were "incident to one objective," the defendant may be punished for only one. (Ibid.)

The trial court should have stayed the sentence for count 5. "[T]here can be only one conviction for leaving the scene of an accident," even where an accident results in the injury of more than one person. (People v. Calles (2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 1200, 1217 (Calles); People v. Newton (2007) 155 Cal.App.4th 1000, 1002.) Lopez's act of leaving the scene of the accident was not a separate act with a separate objective "when compared to [the enhancement for fleeing the scene of the crime] alleged in

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count [2]. There was only one act of leaving the scene of an accident." (Calles, at p. 1217.)