People v. Stevenson CA3

BACKGROUND

Defendant was severely burned by a butane explosion in his apartment complex. He had been working in his bathroom, extracting butane hash oil from marijuana leaves. In the process, butane gas pooled on the floor. When the gas somehow ignited, an explosion blew out windows and penetrated walls in the apartment complex. Defendant’s hands, forearms, legs, face, and scalp were burned. He also singed the back of his mouth and nasal hairs. In all, 56 percent of his body was burned. A jury convicted defendant of unlawfully manufacturing concentrated cannabis (§ 11379.6, subd. (a), count 1); and unlawfully causing fire to an inhabited structure (§ 452, subd. (b), count 2). The trial court sentenced him to serve an aggravated prison term of seven years for manufacturing concentrated cannabis and one year (one-third the middle term) for causing fire to an inhabited structure. The court ordered the terms to be served consecutively, resulting in an aggregate eight-year term. The court also ordered defendant to register as an arson offender, pursuant to section 457.1.

DISCUSSION

I Section 654 Defendant first contends his term for causing fire must be stayed under section 654. He…