People v. Ashmus

In People v. Ashmus (1991) 54 Cal.3d 932, the jury convicted the defendant of felony murder; found true special circumstances allegations of murder in the course of rape, sodomy, and child molestation; and convicted the defendant of rape, sodomy, and child molestation based on the same acts supporting the special circumstances. The court sentenced the defendant to death and imposed consecutive six- year terms for each of the non-capital offenses. On appeal, the defendant asserted that imposition of the sentence for child molestation violated section 654. (Ashmus, supra, 54 Cal.3d at p. 1011.) The Supreme Court rejected the assertion. "Defendant relies on People v. Siko (1988) 45 Cal.3d 820, but to no avail. In that case, we held that the defendant, who had been convicted of rape, sodomy, and lewd conduct, could not be punished for all three offenses. There, we were able to conclude that the lewd conduct consisted solely of the rape and the sodomy: 'the charging instrument and the verdict both identify the lewd conduct as consisting of the rape and the sodomy rather than any other act.' Here, we are unable to come to a similar conclusion." (Ibid.)