Can a defendant be convicted of multiple crimes arising from a single act?

Section 654 prohibits multiple punishments for a single act or omission, even when that act or omission violates more than one statute and thus constitutes more than one crime. A defendant may thus be convicted of multiple crimes arising from a single act, but may be sentenced only on the crime carrying the highest punishment; the sentences on the other counts arising from the same act must be stayed. (People v. Liu (1996) 46 Cal.App.4th 1119, 1135.) However, if the defendant "harbored 'multiple criminal objectives,' which were independent of and not merely incidental to each other, he may be punished for each

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