California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Dennis B., In re, 127 Cal.Rptr. 860, 55 Cal.App.3d 638 (Cal. App. 1976):
The court in Kellett recognized that section 654 would not bar a subsequent felony prosecution in certain cases where the multiple prosecutions are unavoidable, such as where a district attorney's office is reasonably unaware of the felonies when the misdemeanors are processed or where the prosecutions of different offenses are entrusted to different public law offices. (Kellett v. Superior Court, supra, 63 Cal.2d at pp. 827-828, 48 Cal.Rptr. 366, 409 P.2d 206.) Respondent urges this court to apply the above exception due to the fact that no representative of the district attorney's office was in court when the traffic offense was tried. But, given a court of competent jurisdiction, a trial is nonetheless jeopardy whether or not a district attorney is present in court.
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