Sacramento Shooting Suspect Won Early Release on Felony Charge
Smiley Allen Martin, arrested in connection with the recent mass shooting in Sacramento, served less than half his 10-year sentence because of voter-approved changes to state law that lessened the punishment for his felony convictions and provided a chance for earlier release.
Landwebs
Smiley Allen Martin, a suspect arrested in connection with the recent mass shooting in Sacramento, served less than half his 10-year sentence because of voter-approved changes to state law that lessened the punishment for his felony convictions and provided a chance for earlier release, reports the Associated Press. Martin was freed in February after serving time for punching a girlfriend, dragging her from her home by her hair and whipping her with a belt, all nonviolent offenses under California law, which considers only about two dozen crimes to be violent felonies.
Prison officials evidently used a very expansive approach to applying time credits to his sentence, which would have otherwise kept behind bars until at least May, 2022. The officials cited credits through Proposition 57, the 2016 ballot measure that aimed to give most felons a chance at earlier release. Credits were also broadly authorized to lower the prison population during the pandemic. The state has relied on its powers under Proposition 57 to keep the prison population below the level required by a panel of federal judges who ruled that inmate crowding had led to unconstitutionally poor conditions.
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