Guard claims self-defense in fatal Sacramento pot dispensary shooting, lawyer says
A security guard charged with manslaughter after fatally shooting a man during a break-in at a Sacramento cannabis dispensary acted in self-defense, his attorney said ahead of a Thursday court hearing in the case.
“He had to make a split-second decision to defend himself,” attorney Allen Sawyer said Thursday from his Stockton office ahead of a scheduled afternoon bail hearing for Joseph Lawrence Mills in Sacramento Superior Court. “Imagine being in his situation. It’s 4:30 a.m. and these individuals are storming the building.”
Joseph Lawrence Mills, 55, of Sacramento, remained held in Sacramento County Main Jail. Prosecutors said Mills shot two suspected burglars May 8 at the dispensary in the 8500 block of Thys Court in the Florin Fruitridge Industrial Park, east of Florin Perkins Road, killing one of them.
Mills’ attorney said the charges were unwarranted and that Mills was defending himself and the property he was hired to protect when he fired the shots that killed 22-year-old Kato Lamarzae Mills, of Oakland, who was not related to him.
Sawyer said Mills, who lives on the dispensary property, encountered as many as nine masked men who rushed the business in the pre-dawn hours of May 8. Sawyer cited surveillance footage aired on Sacramento television stations that showed what Mills faced before opening fire, saying he “hopes law enforcement will take a long, hard look at it” as the investigation continues.
“He encountered them and he thought his life was in danger,” Sawyer said. “He definitely didn’t cause the situation.”
The shooting underscored the dangers faced by legal cannabis operations, which Sawyer said are vulnerable to targeted break-ins.
“Unfortunately, unlike illegal operations, legal operations are easy to find, and they’re targeted because of that,” the attorney said.
Mark Reichel, a Sacramento criminal defense attorney and former federal public defender who has represented cannabis dispensaries, also described the risks such businesses face.
“I can attest that they are the frequent victims of violent armed robberies. Anyone taking that job knows that very well,” Reichel said Thursday.
He said Mills has a case for self-defense if he felt he needed to open fire under the circumstances as described.
“At 4:30 a.m., in a deserted part of town, in a dark warehouse, nine masked and disguised men came to a place where it’s believed large sums of cash are held. They clawed over the fence and broke the barrier. They were armed. The security guard shot at them in fear as they surrounded him,” Reichel said.
“That’s obviously not a crime,” Reichel continued. “If the guard honestly felt it was necessary to shoot, and that feeling was ‘reasonable,’ under the circumstances, that’s self-defense.”
Sawyer said he would not speculate on why criminal charges were brought against Mills — he said he would first need to review discovery evidence — but said Mills remains “traumatized” by the shooting.
Responding Sacramento police officers found Kato Mills wounded at the dispensary. He had been shot at least once and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A second gunshot victim, also suspected of being part of the burglary crew, later arrived at a hospital and was reported in stable condition, according to the Sacramento Police Department. Joseph Mills remained at the scene and was detained by officers.
Sacramento police homicide detectives later secured a warrant for Mills’ arrest.
Sacramento County prosecutors last week filed a criminal complaint charging Mills with voluntary manslaughter in Kato Mills’ death, along with felony allegations of firing a weapon at an inhabited building and illegally possessing an assault weapon.
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