Does section 654 of the California Penal Code bar imposition of concurrent sentences for driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent arising out of one act of driving?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Anderson, H032954 (Cal. App. 12/19/2008), H032954 (Cal. App. 2008):

Penal Code section 654 provides in relevant part: "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." " `Section 654 precludes multiple punishment for a single act or omission, or an indivisible course of conduct.' [Citation.] It is the defendant's intent and objective that determines whether the course of conduct is indivisible. [Citation.] Thus, ` "[i]f all of the offenses were merely incidental to, or were the means of accomplishing or facilitating one objective, defendant may be found to have harbored a single intent and therefore may be punished only once." ' " (People v. Le (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 925, 931 (Le).)

Here, the Attorney General concedes, and we agree, that Penal Code section 654 bars imposition of concurrent terms for driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent arising out of one act of driving. (People v. Martinez (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 851, 857.) Therefore, we will modify the judgment to reflect that the sentence on count 2, driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent, is stayed pursuant to section 654.

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