McPherson

Certified for Partial Publication. [*]

Appellant Axel Ernesto McPherson aided another in raping Nancy T. Immediately thereafter he raped her. He pleaded no contest to two counts of forcible rape (§ 261, subd. (a)(2)), [1] and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, consisting of consecutive sentences of six years on each count. [2] McPherson contends that he should not have received consecutive sentences. He claims that the trial court erred in imposing mandatory "full, separate, and consecutive" sentences under section 667.6, subdivision (d) because the rapes did not occur on "separate occasions" and because he did not personally commit one of the rapes. We affirm because, as we shall discuss, each act of rape perpetrated by a different assailant is a crime committed on a separate occasion for the purpose of imposing the mandatory sentence. [[/]]

Nancy T. left a bar around 1:30 a.m. and waited outside for a taxi. A few minutes later, McPherson drove up and offered her a ride home. She recognized McPherson as a bar patron and accepted. She got in the front seat. An unidentified man whom McPherson identified as his cousin got into the back seat.

Instead of driving her…