How has section 654 of the California Criminal Code been interpreted and interpreted by courts?

[5] In determining the applicability of section 654, we turn first to the plain language of the statute. ( People v. Hudson (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1002, 1009, 44 Cal.Rptr.3d 632, 136 P.3d 168.) Section 654, subdivision (a), provides, " An act or omission that is punishable in different ways by different provisions of law shall be punished under the provision that provides for the longest potential term of imprisonment, but in no case shall the act or omission be punished under more than one provision." (Italics added.) There is no language in the statute that allows in a single act scenario the circumvention of the prohibition against multiple punishments because a defendant had multiple intents or intended multiple impacts. It is only where a defendant engages in multiple acts that the cases require a determination be made as to whether the series of acts amounts to a course of conduct subject to a single or multiple intents and objectives. If multiple acts were merely incidental to, or were the means of accomplishing or facilitating one objective, section 654 prohibits more than one punishment.