Does choking during a robbery constitute an assault for the purpose of facilitating the robbery?

The People disagree, arguing that "by choking [Jane] Doe[, Moore] did not seek to accomplish her rape. . . . [H]e choked her only when she screamed, his apparent purpose to evade detection." The argument is not persuasive. A defendant who commits an assault to avoid being interrupted during the commission of an underlying crime, is acting with the goal of accomplishing the underlying crime. (See, e.g., People v. Flowers (1982) 132 Cal.App.3d 584, 590 [assault during a robbery to quiet the victim and to counter the victim's resistance was for the purpose of facilitating the robbery, and therefore 654 applied to bar separate punishment for assault and robbery].)