Is a course of criminal conduct divisible enough to allow multiple punishment under section 654?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from The People v. Hernandez, D055334, No. RIF129735 (Cal. App. 2010):

Whether a course of criminal conduct is divisible so as to allow multiple punishment under section 654 depends on whether the defendant had a separate objective for each offense. (People v. Britt (2004) 32 Cal.4th 944, 951-952.) If one offense is merely intended to facilitate commission of another offense, punishment for both

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offenses is not permissible. (See People v. Latimer (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1203, 1216.) In contrast, if the defendant " 'entertained multiple criminal objectives which 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.' " (People v. Kwok, supra, 63 Cal.App.4th at p. 1257.)

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