Does section 654 of the California Criminal Code apply to a defendant who has pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to comply with the terms of a conditional discharge from a plea agreement?

"An act or omission that is punishable in different ways by different provisions of law shall be punished under the provision that provides for the longest potential term of imprisonment, but in no case shall the act or omission be punished under more than one provision." ( 654, subd. (a).) Section 654 thus prohibits punishment for two crimes arising from an indivisible course of conduct. (People v. Hester (2000) 22 Cal.4th 290, 294.)

Respondent contends that defendant has forfeited this issue by his admission of the bail enhancement allegation in exchange for a sentence of seven years, as "defendants are estopped from complaining of sentences to which they agreed." (People v. Hester, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 295.) Defendant points out, however, there is no indication in the record that waiver of section 654 was contemplated within the plea agreement, and a section 654 stay of the count 4 sentence would not change the seven-year term that defendant agreed to serve. Nevertheless, defendant's contention that section 654 applies to count 4 is without merit.

"Section 654 prohibits multiple punishment for a single physical act that violates different provisions of law." (People v. Jones (2012) 54 Cal.4th 350, 358.) However, "what is a single physical act might not always be easy to ascertain. In some situations, physical acts might be simultaneous yet separate for purposes of section 654." (Ibid.) In such circumstances, the question may be resolved under the intent and objective test.

Page 8