California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. CONNERS, 168 Cal.App.4th 443, 85 Cal.Rptr.3d 627 (Cal. App. 2009):
[11] [12] [13] Section 654 prohibits multiple punishment for a single criminal act and for two crimes arising from a single indivisible course of conduct in which the defendant had only one criminal intent or objective. 10 ( People v. Moseley (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 1598, 1603, 80 Cal.Rptr.3d 551.) Thus:
If all of the crimes were merely incidental to, or were the means of accomplishing or facilitating one objective, a defendant may be punished only once. [Citation] If, however, a defendant had several independent criminal objectives, he may be punished for each crime committed in pursuit of each objective, even though the crimes shared common acts or were parts of an otherwise indivisible course of conduct. ( People v. Perry (2007) 154 Cal.App.4th 1521, 1525, 65 Cal.Rptr.3d 654.)
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.