SAN JOSE — Through an irreplicable sequence of administrative actions and court rulings, a man sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for a prolific string of rapes, robberies and jail escapes across California in the 1970s and 1980s has a legitimate chance to get his sentence recalled by a South Bay court.
Two such enhancements were part of the 79-year sentence Martin received after he was convicted in Santa Clara County in 1984 on 15 counts of sexual assault and robbery in San Jose. Prosecutors questioned the rationale of the secretary’s recommendation, noting that it only addressed Martin’s robbery convictions and not the accompanying sexual assault convictions, nor did it address his decades-long sentences for similar convictions in several other counties.
After a year of procedural hearings and court briefs, Williams on Tuesday heard arguments from prosecutor Brian King and deputy public defender David Tarica.Martin served prison time for sexual assaults he committed in the 1970s and early 1980s in Alameda, San Francisco, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
Martin was arrested in Los Angeles after police tracked the stolen car, but he escaped custody again after first giving authorities a fake name using a driver’s license he stole or found, which led him to be put in minimum-security jail housing. Like in Santa Rita, he faked illness to prompt another hospital trip, then overpowered and took a gun away from a deputy transporting him.
The prosecutor pointed to how many of Martin’s crimes occurred shortly after release from prior jail and prison stints, and his multiple escapes from authorities, all conduct showing he “is not capable of not committing sexual assaults.”