Does section 654 of the California Criminal Code require a defendant to be punished for each statutory violation committed in pursuit of the same objective?

The test for section 654 is whether a course of criminal conduct is divisible or indivisible, which in turn depends on the intent and objective of the actor. If all offenses are indivisible and incidental to one objective, then a defendant may be punished for only one of the offenses. (People v. Britt (2004) 32 Cal.4th 944, 951-952.)

A divisible course of conduct, however, gives rise to more than one act within the meaning of section 654. If the defendant harbored multiple independent criminal objectives, that defendant may be punished for each statutory violation committed in pursuit of each objective, even though the violations shared common acts or were parts of an otherwise indivisible course of conduct. (People v. Harrison (1989) 48 Cal.3d 321, 335.)

The question whether section 654 applies is a factual determination for the trial court. Appellate courts accord broad latitude to this trial court determination. We uphold trial court factual determinations if substantial evidence supports it. (People v. DeVaughn (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 1092, 1113.)

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