For release on May 21, 2014

CONTACT:
Brian Buckelew, Deputy District Attorney
(408) 792-2792

  ALDON SMITH PLEADS TO DUI AND FELONY POSSESSION OF ASSAULT WEAPONS     Aldon Smith, 24, of San Jose, today pleaded no contest as charged to three felony counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon. Smith also pleaded as charged to two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol.   Smith is expected to be sentenced on July 25 by the Hon. Daniel Nishigaya. Smith faces a range of sentences at the judge’s discretion between no time in custody to four years and four months in jail.   “We charged Mr. Smith for the crimes that he committed,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Mr. Smith has now accepted responsibility for his crimes and has pleaded to all of the charges.’’   The gun charges came in the wake of a 2012 party at Smith’s residence in unincorporated San Jose that turned violent. Several gang members at the party became confrontational with other guests and an unknown person fired a handgun into Smith’s garage. Smith fired his own .45 handgun twice from his balcony to dissipate the crowd and a friend of Smith later fired the same .45 handgun several times in the air. An unknown party guest subsequently shot and injured two partygoers, and Smith himself was later stabbed. As the assaults were taking place, another unknown person entered Smith’s bedroom, removed an assault weapon, and carried it around the party.   Following the shooting, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department searched Smith’s residence for evidence related to the assaults. As part of that search, Sheriff’s investigators recovered two rifles from Smith’s bedroom, including an Armalite AR10-T .308 caliber rifle. In a second search two weeks later, Sheriff’s investigators recovered three additional firearms from Smith’s bedroom and closet, including a Bushmaster ACR rifle chambered for 5.56mm NATO and a Bushmaster Carbon-15 .223 caliber rifle. Sheriff’s investigators documented several additional large-capacity magazines strewn about the floor of Smith’s bedroom. Ammunition in several calibers—both expended and unexpended—was found in Smith’s bedside table.   A District Attorney’s investigation determined that three of the firearms were illegal assault weapons under California law. The District Attorney’s investigation also revealed that Smith purchased the assault weapons in Arizona on two occasions in 2011. Such weapons, as configured, cannot be legally purchased in Arizona by residents of California. Even if purchased in Arizona by an Arizona resident, such weapons are illegal to possess in California.   The DUI charges were based upon a San Jose Police Department investigation following Mr. Smith’s September 20, 2013 single-car accident in which Mr. Smith lost control of his truck and struck a tree. His blood-alcohol level was almost twice the legal limit.