What is the appropriate sentence for an attempted second-degree robbery?

While section 664 generally requires that punishment for an attempted crime be one-half of the term of imprisonment prescribed for the offense, "[s]ection 664 is inapplicable to convictions for attempted second degree robbery." (People v. Moody (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 987, 990.) "[T]he appropriate triad for ... attempted second degree robbery offense is ... 16 months, two years, or three years." (Id. at p. 990; see People v. Neely (2009) 176 Cal.App.4th 787, 797.) Accordingly, the court's imposition of two years six months on counts 2 and 4 was improper.

The Attorney General asserts that on remand, the court must select a term of 16 months, two years, or three years, and "then impose a full consecutive term." His contention is correct, but it is not technically precise: "[A sentence] cannot be both consecutive and stayed simultaneously because the two are mutually exclusive." (People v. Cantrell (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 1161, 1164.)

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