California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Battersby, A159213 (Cal. App. 2020):
"Section 654 precludes multiple punishments for a single act or indivisible course of conduct." (People v. Hester (2000) 22 Cal.4th 290, 294.) " 'Whether a course of criminal conduct is divisible and therefore gives rise to more than one act within the meaning of section 654 depends on the intent and objective of the actor.' " (People v. Latimer (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1203, 1208.) The purpose of this statute is "to ensure that a defendant's punishment will be commensurate with his culpability." (People v. Perez (1979) 23 Cal.3d 545, 550-551.)
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