California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Laythorpe, G045720 (Cal. App. 2013):
Multiple crimes do not constitute a single transaction when the defendant had an opportunity "to reflect between offenses and each offense created a new risk of harm." (People v. Feliz (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 905, 915.) "Under section 654, a course of conduct divisible in time, though directed to one objective, may give rise to multiple convictions and multiple punishment 'where the offenses are temporally separated in such a way as to afford the defendant an opportunity to reflect and renew his or her intent before committing the next one, thereby aggravating the violation of public security or police already undertaken.' [Citation.]" (People v. Lopez (2011) 198 Cal.App.4th 698, 717-718.) In this case, defendant had the same opportunity to reflect between each violent act against the victim, especially after she was knocked unconscious.
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