Phelps

A jury convicted defendant Stephen Phelps of making criminal threats (Pen. Code, § 422 [1] ), a felony, failure to appear while on bail (§ 1320.5), a felony, and two counts of violating a court order (§ 273.6, subd. (a)), a misdemeanor. The trial court found that defendant had been released from custody (on bail) when he committed the failure to appear. (§ 12022.1.) The court sentenced defendant to state prison for an aggregate term of five years and eight months.

On appeal, defendant claims the trial court erred by: (1) allowing the prosecutor to consolidate the felony charges; (2) imposing multiple punishments for failure to appear and the section 12022.1 enhancement; and (3) imposing multiple punishments for one count of violation of a court order and for making criminal threats. Although there is no merit in defendant's first claim (regarding consolidation of the charges), the remaining two claims are persuasive. We shall modify the judgment accordingly.

BACKGROUND

Criminal charges were initially filed against defendant in different superior and municipal court cases. The prosecutor moved to consolidate the cases before trial. The trial court granted the…