How have courts interpreted section 654 of the California Criminal Code when a defendant is convicted and sentenced for each crime committed against a different victim?

Under the "multiple victim" exception to section 654, "even though a defendant entertains but a single principal objective during an indivisible course of conduct, he may be convicted and punished for each crime of violence committed against a different victim." (People v. Ramos (1982) 30 Cal.3d 553, 587, revd. on other grounds in California v. Ramos (1983) 463 U.S. 992.) The exception is based on the principle that "[w]hen a defendant ' "commits an act of violence with the intent to harm more than one person or by means likely to cause harm to several persons," his greater culpability precludes application of section 654.' "

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(People v. McFarland (1989) 47 Cal.3d 798, 803; People v. Garcia (1995) 32 Cal.App.4th 1756, 1781.)