Hall

Penal Code section 654 prohibits multiple punishments for "[a]n act or omission that is punishable in different ways by different provisions of law." [1] However, the courts have long construed this provision not to bar multiple punishments where the act is one of violence against multiple victims (the multiple-victim exception). ( People v. Latimer (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1203, 1212 , 23 Cal.Rptr.2d 144 , 858 P.2d 611 ( Latimer ); Neal v. State of California (1960) 55 Cal.2d 11, 20-21 , 9 Cal.Rptr. 607 , 357 P.2d 839 ( Neal ).)

The issue in this case is whether a single act of exhibiting a firearm in a threatening manner in the immediate presence of several peace officers in violation of section 417, subdivision (c), is punishable for as many times as there are peace officers present pursuant to the multiple-victim exception to section 654. We conclude that the plain language of section 654, its purpose, and the case law construing it compel a single punishment for a single act of exhibiting a firearm in violation of section 417, subdivision (c), regardless of the number of peace officers present. The crime of exhibiting a firearm "in the immediate presence of a peace…