U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- One of two sibling suspects arrested in the aftermath of the deadly mass shooting in Sacramento was released from prison in February after having served less than half of a ten-year sentence he received in January 2018 for domestic violence and assault, according to the Sacramento Bee and now social media is burning up with discussions about this revelation.
Now a report has surfaced that one of the suspects, Smiley Martin, was paid $7,500 by Sacramento County to settle a lawsuit dating back to 2018, when Martin accused a jail guard of allowing him to be assaulted while in custody in the Sacramento County Jail. According to KOVR News, the local CBS affiliate, the county agreed to settle Smiley Martin’s lawsuit rather than go to court, because of a backup in the courts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is just the latest revelation about the case, that already has Californians furious.
Further adding to the drama, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will hold a public hearing Thursday, April 14 on a proposal to enact permanent regulations which, according to Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, “would result in the early release of thousands of violent offenders and ‘nonviolent second strikers’,” according to an announcement on the DA’s website.
The period for submitting public comment closes April 13. The April 14 public hearing teleconference will be opened to the public at 10 a.m., and it is likely there will be much interest in this discussion. This notice appears on the CDCR website:
PUBLIC HEARING INFORMATION
A public hearing regarding these proposed regulations will be held on April 14, 2022. The teleconference will be opened to the public at 10 am. If you would like to participate by teleconference:
- Call 1-877-411-9748 (TTY/TDD: Dial 711).
- When prompted, enter participant code 6032676.
The purpose of the hearing is to receive comments about proposed regulations. It is not a forum to debate the proposed regulations. No decision regarding the permanent adoption of these regulations will be rendered at this hearing.
Pursuant to Government Code section 11346.8, the Department may impose reasonable limitations on oral presentations. Therefore, to ensure everyone who wishes to make a comment has time to do so, comments will be limited to three minutes.
Smiley Allen Martin, 27, was wounded in the shooting that left six people dead and 12 injured. He faces charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a machine gun. The second charge stems from the recovery of a stolen handgun at the scene in downtown Sacramento—just two blocks from the state capitol—which had been illegally converted to fire full-auto.
It also now appears there were at least five shooters involved in the lethal incident. According to an update from Sacramento police, “Evidence in the case indicates that at least five shooters fired guns during the shooting and that an exchange of gunfire took place between at least two groups of men. As detectives continue to identify shooters and weapons involved, the number of identified shooters may grow beyond five.”
The wild shootout is now considered a gang-related confrontation in which innocent people were caught in the crossfire.
As more information surfaces, the Sacramento incident reinforces the argument from the Second Amendment community that gun control, especially in California, has been a dismal failure.
Smiley Martin’s brother, Dandrae, 26, was arrested a day after the shooting. Dandrae also faces charges of firearm possession by a prohibited person and assault with a firearm. Golden State anti-gunners have pushed restriction upon restriction over the years, ostensibly to prevent criminals from getting firearms, but the Sacramento investigation is proving those laws, which increasingly penalized law-abiding citizens, did not accomplish their promised result.
According to the Bee’s report, Smiley Martin has a criminal history dating back at least nine years, when he was arrested for having a so-called “assault rifle” and loaded “large-capacity” magazines. The following year, he was arrested for robbery and was sentenced to two years in prison. Back on the street in 2016, he was in trouble with police again for providing false information to police and fleeing from a traffic stop, and in 2017, he was involved in the domestic violence incident that earned a ten-year sentence, the newspaper detailed.
Adding to the sensational nature of the Bee’s story, the Sacramento County District Attorney last year sent a letter to the parole board last year, urging them not to release Martin. However, he reportedly had earned “credits” for an early release, so in February he was out.
As noted by Fox News, a parole board turned Smiley’s bid for freedom in May 2021, after prosecutors said he was “a significant, unreasonable risk of safety to the community.” Still, nine months later, he was released.
The bombshell report brought a bristling reaction from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, in the wake of calls for more gun control from Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden, all Democrats and all anti-gunners.
Steinberg, speaking at a press briefing following the shooting, demanded “How many unending tragedies does it take before we begin to cure the sickness in this country?”
“Instead of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and others calling for more gun control,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb in response, “they should be demanding prison reform that keeps violent criminals behind bars instead of allowing early release. Politicians who support such policies are perpetuating a system that ultimately poses more of a real danger to society than their imagined fears about private gun ownership.”
The veteran gun rights leader wondered why Smiley Martin was out in public at 2 a.m., “in the middle of mayhem.”
“Violent criminals shouldn’t be back on the streets essentially unsupervised,” Gottlieb said, “especially when their earlier crimes included illegal gun possession. This is why the American people don’t support more gun control, and instead are buying guns for personal protection. They are realizing that when you trade your freedom for some sense of security, you ultimately wind up with neither.”
According to Sacramento police, investigators have received “a remarkable level of assistance from the public” with videos and other evidence.
More than 100 shots were reportedly fired, and there was an abundance of spent brass littering the crime scene. The victims included three men and three women.
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About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
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