Barriga

In late November 2010, the police stopped a Ford Mustang that had been carjacked; petitioner Octavio Barriga was a passenger in the car. After the car’s owner told police Barriga was not one of his assailants, the People charged Barriga in a juvenile wardship proceeding with unlawfully taking or driving a vehicle and resisting a peace officer (among other charges), but did not charge him with carjacking.

In mid-December 2010, Barriga entered into a plea agreement in the juvenile case pursuant to which he admitted the charge of resisting a peace officer and the other charges related to that incident were dismissed.

*742 In late December, the police obtained a warrant to search Barriga’s cell phone, which they had seized from the stolen Mustang, and in the execution of that warrant discovered a series of text messages that incriminated Barriga in the carjacking. As a result, the People charged Barriga with the carjacking in criminal court. Barriga moved to dismiss the criminal case pursuant to the bar on multiple prosecutions in Penal Code section 654 (among other grounds), but the trial court denied that motion.

On Barriga’s petition for a writ of prohibition, we…