Does section 654 of the California Criminal Code apply to a defendant who has a history of criminal activity as a repeat offender?

"[W]e observe there are at least two types of sentence enhancements: (1) those which go to the nature of the offender; and (2) those which go to the nature of the offense. [Citations.] Prior prison term enhancements ... fall into the first category and are attributable to the defendant's status as a repeat offender. [Citations.] The second category of enhancements ... arise from the circumstances of the crime and typically focus on what the defendant did when the current offense was committed." (People v. Coronado, supra, 12 Cal.4th at pp. 156-157, 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 77, 906 P.2d 1232.)

The enhancements at issue in the case were based on prior offenses and were status enhancements to which section 654 did not apply. The court explained that status enhancements like these "are not imposed for `acts or omissions' within the meaning of the statute...." (People v. Coronado, supra, 12 Cal.4th at p. 157, 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 77, 906 P.2d 1232.) These enhancements "are attributable to the defendant's status as a repeat offender [citations]; they are not attributable to the underlying criminal conduct which gave rise to the defendant's prior and current convictions." Therefore, "[b]ecause the repeat offender (recidivist) enhancement imposed here does not implicate multiple punishment of an act or omission, section 654 is inapplicable." (Id. at p. 158, 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 77, 906 P.2d 1232.)

The court expressed no opinion about whether section 654 applies to the second category, enhancements based on conduct rather than status. (People v. Coronado, supra, 12 Cal.4th at p. 157, 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 77, 906 P.2d 1232.) The court's reasoning, however, strongly implies that section 654 does apply to those enhancements. In the court's view, section 654 does not apply to status enhancements because, by its terms, section 654 only prohibits double punishment for a single criminal "act or omission." (Pen.Code, 654.) A prior conviction enhancement, for instance, imposes punishment for the status of having priors or being a recidivist, not for an act or omission. A conduct or nature-of-the-offense enhancement, by contrast, does impose punishment for an act or omission, "typically ... what the defendant did when the current offense was committed." (People v. Coronado, supra, 12 Cal.4th at p. 157, 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 77, 906 P.2d 1232.) It is only a short logical step to the conclusion

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that section 654 applies to conduct enhancements.