COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Benton, Bray and Senior Judge Hodges 

Argued at Norfolk, Virginia 

DANYEL BROWN, s/k/a 

 DANYEL OLANDIZ BROWN 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY 

v. Record No. 3084-96-1 JUDGE RICHARD S. BRAY 

 NOVEMBER 18, 1997 

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA 

 FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT NEWS 

Randolph T. West, Judge 

 David B. Olson (Saunders, Cope, Olson & 

Yoffy, on brief), for appellant. 

 Thomas D. Bagwell, Senior Assistant Attorney 

General (Richard Cullen, Attorney General, on 

brief), for appellee. 

 Danyel Brown (defendant) was convicted in the trial court 

for two distinct robberies, two attendant abductions, one 

attendant carjacking, and five uses of a firearm in the 

commission of the several felonies. Defendant appeals only the 

firearm convictions, arguing that the predicate offenses together 

comprised two criminal episodes, each of which supported only a 

single firearm offense, and that the additional firearm 

convictions constituted "multiple punishment for the same 

offense" in violation of the prohibition against double jeopardy. 

 Finding no error, we affirm the convictions. 

 The parties are fully conversant with the record, and this 

memorandum opinion recites only those facts essential to a 

 

 *Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not 

designated for publication. 
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disposition of the appeal. 

 No material facts are in dispute. On the evening of 

December 2, 1995, cab driver Louis Narrow "picked up" defendant 

and two other youths in the City of Newport News. En route to 

their destination, one of the three placed a gun to Narrow's head 

and directed him to stop the vehicle. The perpetrators then 

robbed Narrow of approximately $139, ordered him from the car, 

and fled with the vehicle. As a result, defendant was indicted 

and convicted of robbery, abduction, carjacking, and three uses 

of a firearm in the commission of the felonies in violation of 

Code § 18.2-53.1. 

 On December 8, 1995, Robert Williams, Jr., also a cab 

driver, picked up defendant and another youth and drove them to 

the Denbigh Square Apartments in the City of Newport News. Upon 

arrival, defendant pressed a "handgun" against Williams' right 

temple and robbed him of approximately $20. Defendant then 

demanded that Williams drive a short distance and stop once 

again, when defendant took the vehicle keys and ran away.1 

Defendant was subsequently indicted and convicted of robbery, 

abduction and the attendant two uses of a firearm. 

 Code § 18.2-53.1 provides, in pertinent part, 

 It shall be unlawful for any person to use 

any . . . firearm . . . while committing 

. . . robbery, carjacking, . . . or 

abduction. Violation of this section shall 

constitute a separate and distinct 

 1Williams' cellular phone was also stolen during the 

robbery. 
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felony . . . . Such punishment shall be 

separate and apart from . . . any punishment 

received for the commission of the primary 

felony. 

 Defendant argues that each of the two criminal events, 

although comprised of several felonies, was continuous in nature, 

involving only a single victim and a single "criminal intent." 

He, therefore, reasons that punishment for successive and 

distinct firearm offenses arising from each component felony 

amounts to multiple punishments for the same offense. We find no 

merit in defendant's argument. 

 In Flythe v. Commonwealth, the Supreme Court concluded that 

"[Code § 18.2-53.1] addresses itself not to the act or the 

incident, but to the offenses committed with a firearm . . . . 

It is the identity of the offense and not of the act which is 

dispositive." 221 Va. 832, 835, 275 S.E.2d 582, 584 (1981); see

also Morris v. Commonwealth, 228 Va. 206, 212, 321 S.E.2d 633, 

636 (1984) (multiple felonies and corresponding firearm offenses 

may result from a single act); Sullivan v. Commonwealth, 16 Va. 

App. 844, 847-48, 433 S.E.2d 508, 510 (1993) (contemporaneous 

robbery of two persons with one firearm constituted two robberies 

and two dependent firearm offenses). 

 Accordingly, each of the several predicate felonies 

committed by defendant while using a firearm constituted a 

separate violation of Code § 18.2-53.1, and we affirm the 

convictions. 

 Affirmed.