49ers Linebacker Charged in DUI, Weapons Case

By Dan McMenamin

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith was charged Wednesday with three felony counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon and two misdemeanor counts of DUI for two separate cases in 2012 and last month, Santa Clara County prosecutors said.

Smith, 24, is expected to surrender later this month and, if convicted, could face up to four years and four months in jail, according to the district attorney's office. The 49ers star faces the weapons charges in connection with a June 29, 2012, party at his home in unincorporated San Jose that turned violent when gang members showed up and paid a $10 admission fee, prosecutors said. During a confrontation with party guests, Smith fired his .45-caliber handgun several times in the air.

Another guest shot and injured two people and Smith himself was later stabbed, prosecutors said. Following the incidents at the party, Santa Clara County sheriff's investigators searched Smith's home and found two rifles in his bedroom. In a second search two weeks later, three other firearms were found in his bedroom and closet. None of the five weapons were registered with the state Department of Justice, prosecutors said.

Sheriff's officials submitted the case to the district attorney's office in July and prosecutors began a secondary investigation that determined three of the firearms were illegal assault weapons under California law. The district attorney's investigation revealed Smith bought the guns in Arizona on two different occasions in 2011, including on Dec. 10, 2011, the day before the 49ers played the Arizona Cardinals. Smith was also charged today with misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol and misdemeanor driving with a blood-alcohol content of .08 or higher for a Sept. 20 incident in San Jose.

The felony illegal weapons and misdemeanor DUI counts were charged today as separate, stand-alone cases, said Assistant District Attorney Brian Buckelew, who is prosecuting the felony case. In court documents filed for the DUI case, a San Jose police report states that Smith had a blood-alcohol content of .15 after crashing his car on Bentley Ridge Drive at about 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 20. Smith smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech and a pipe was in the center console of his vehicle, according to the police report.

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