Ralph's

Ralph’s Grocery Company (Ralph’s) appeals from a judgment denying mandamus relief from a decision by the Sealer of Weights and Measures of the County of Riverside that imposed multiple administrative fines on Ralph’s for selling inaccurately weighed seafood in violation of Business and Professions Code sections 12023 and 12024. Ralph’s argues that (1) the sealer unlawfully imposed separate fines for each offending package of seafood under section 12023 rather than one fine for the entire lot, and (2) multiple fines for the single act or omission of mislabeling seafood violated Penal Code section 654. We generally disagree with Ralph’s, concluding that (1) section 12023 authorizes separate fines for each offending package of seafood and (2) Penal Code section 654 did not prohibit multiple fines under section 12023 for each mislabeled package because the mislabeling of each individual package constituted a separate act or omission. We nevertheless reverse, concluding that Penal Code section 654 prohibited duplicative fines under sections 12023 and 12024 for mislabeling the same packages of seafood.

LEGAL BACKGROUND

Division Five of the Business and Professions Code (§§…