— Petitioner and a codefendant, Roland Causey, were charged with conspiracy to commit grand theft (count 1) and grand theft (counts 2 through 4). Petitioner alone was charged with an additional count of grand theft (count 5). The jury found both of them guilty on counts 1 and 2 and petitioner guilty on counts 3 through 5; and the jury acquitted Causey on counts 3 and 4. Petitioner was sentenced to a term of imprisonment on each count, and it was ordered that the sentences as to counts 1 and 2 run consecutively and that the sentences as to counts 3, 4, and 5 run concurrently with count 2. The judgment was affirmed.
(People
v.
Causey,
Petitioner now seeks habeas corpus, contending that the sentences imposed violated the proscription in Penal Code section 654 against multiple punishment because the conspiracy had no objective apart from the grand thefts for which he was sentenced to prison.
1
The Attorney General concedes that this contention has merit. Where the facts are undisputed and the only question as to the issue of multiple punishment is the applicability of section 654, habeas corpus is a proper remedy to review that issue.
(Neal
v.
State of California,
The facts are set forth in the opinion on petitioner’s appeal
(People
v.
Causey, supra,
The information alleged 25 overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy, and it does not appear that any of these acts related to any offense except the grand thefts charged in counts 2 through 4. The Attorney General admits that the conspiracy was not shown to have any objective apart from those grand thefts. His position is that the objectives of the conspiracy were the grand thefts charged in counts 2 through 4. We need not consider whether the grand thefts charged in counts 3 and 4 may properly be viewed as among the objectives of the conspiracy even though Causey was acquitted on those counts; the sentences imposed violated the rule against multiple punishment irrespective of whether the conspiracy had only one objective (i.e, the grand theft charged in count 2) or three objectives (i.e. the grand thefts charged in counts 2 through 4).
The prohibition in section 654 against multiple punishment applies not only where one act in the ordinary sense is involved but also where there is a course of conduct that violates more than one statute and comprises an indivisible transaction. The divisibility of a course of conduct depends upon the intent and objective of the defendant, and if all the offenses are incident to ohe objective the defendant may be punished for any one of them but not for more than one.
(People
v.
McFarland,
Since here it does not appear that the conspiracy had any objective apart from the grand thefts for which petitioner was sentenced to prison, there has been a violation of the rule against multiple punishment. When double punishment has been imposed the general rule is that the sentence for the offense subject to the least punishment should be set aside.
(People
v.
McFarland, supra,
As we have seen, the judgment directed that the sentences as to counts 1 and 2 run consecutively and that the sentences as to counts 3 through 5 run concurrently with count 2. It was discretionary with the trial court whether to make the sentences run consecutively or concurrently. (Pen. Code, § 669;
People
v.
Graham,
Setting aside the sentence as to count 2 will not have that effect. It is clear that the intent of the trial court was to have the sentences imposed on counts 3 through 5 commence at the completion of the sentence on count 1. Setting aside the sentence as to count 2 cannot reasonably be viewed as preventing the carrying out of that intent. Several federal decisions have reached this same conclusion.
(Dailey
v.
United States,
The sentence imposed upon petitioner for the grand theft charged in count 2 is set aside and the Adult Authority is directed to exclude from its consideration that purported sentence. Petitioner, however, is not entitled to release so *182 long as he is held under a valid judgment of conviction for his other crimes. The order to show cause is, therefore, discharged, and the writ of habeas corpus is denied.
Notes
Penal Code section 654 provides in part: “An act or omission which is made punishable in different ways by different provisions of this code may be punished under either of such provisions, but in no case can it be punished under more than one ."
