Multiple Punishments for Indivisible Conduct

Section 654 prohibits multiple punishment for an indivisible course of conduct, that is where the defendant committed more than one offense incident to a single criminal objective. (People v. Latimer (1993) 5 Cal. 4th 1203, 1208, 1216 23 Cal. Rptr. 2d 144, 858 P.2d 611.) The defendant's intent and objective determine whether the course of conduct is indivisible. (People v. Harrison (1989) 48 Cal. 3d 321, 335 256 Cal. Rptr. 401, 768 P.2d 1078.) "If 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." (Ibid.) The determination of a defendant's intent and objective is a factual matter for the trial court to determine. (People v. Osband (1996) 13 Cal. 4th 622, 730-731 55 Cal. Rptr. 2d 26, 919 P.2d 640.) We must affirm if substantial evidence supports a trial court's express or implied determination that punishment for crimes occurring during a course of conduct does not involve dual use of facts prohibited by section 654. (People v. Osband, supra, 13 Cal. 4th at pp. 730-731.)