California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Rangel, B271735 (Cal. App. 2017):
Moreover, even if defendant's accusatory pleading argument were viable, his conviction on the alleged greater offense would not be stricken. "When a defendant is convicted of a greater and a lesser included offense, reversal of the conviction for the lesser included offense is required." (People v. Dowdell (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 1388, 1416 (emphasis added).) Indeed, section 654, subdivision (a) provides that a defendant facing multiple punishments "shall be punished under the provision that provides the longest potential term of imprisonment." Here, that is count 3. It appears the trial court stayed defendant's sentence on count 3 rather than the sentence on count 2 because it concluded that defendant was subject to the same sentence under count 2 and count 3. As we discuss below, however, the court erred in calculating the sentence on count 2 because it applied an inapplicable enhancement.
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