Penal Code section 654 does not bar imposition of multiple great bodily injury enhancements where defendant commits divisible criminal acts against one victim during continuous assault. Convicted of numerous offenses arising from his violent sexual assaults and attempted murder of a woman, appellant argued that section 654 barred imposition of multiple enhancements for great bodily injury for his attempted murder (Pen. Code, § 12022.7 applied to Pen. Code, §§ 664/187) and forcible oral copulation (Pen. Code, § 12022.8 applied to Pen. Code, § 288a, subd. (c)(2)) of the victim. Held: Affirmed. In People v. Ahmed (2011) 53 Cal.4th 156, the Supreme Court found that section 654 may apply to sentence enhancements “when the specific statutes do not provide the answer” regarding what enhancements may be attached to the substantive crime. Where one crime is committed against one victim, section 654 limits the number of enhancements that may be imposed. But where section 654 does not bar punishment for separate crimes because the intent and objectives differ, it does not bar punishment for the same type of enhancement for each separate substantive offense to which the enhancement attaches.
Case Summaries