Does Section 1170.1 of the California Criminal Code apply to sentencing a defendant who has been convicted of multiple criminal convictions for the same crime?

While DSL is, without a doubt, "a legislative monstrosity, which is bewildering in its complexity," (People v. Sutton (1980) 113 Cal.App.3d 162, 164, 169 Cal.Rptr. 656) ², in one, if not the only, respect the meaning and [235 Cal.App.3d 1552] implementation of DSL should be fairly clear--when a defendant is sentenced consecutively for multiple convictions, whether in the same proceeding or in different proceedings, the judgment or aggregate determinate term is to be viewed as interlocking pieces consisting of a principal term and one or more subordinate terms. ( 1170.1, subd. (a).) Section 1170.1, with certain exceptions, also places certain restrictions on the sentencing judge's discretion such as limiting the term of imprisonment for a subordinate term to no more than one-third the middle term of imprisonment for such conviction and limiting the total term of imprisonment to no more than twice the number of years imposed as the base term.