Porterville man denied parole for 1993 murder

A parole board denied parole last week for James Ray Carlin, age 51, for the murder and robbery of a man in Porterville in 1993. Carlin received a three year denial and is not scheduled for another hearing until 2021.

In April of 1993, a neighbor of the adult male victim requested a welfare check because she had not seen him in a few days. When officers arrived, they found the victim lying on the bed with duct tape around his ankles, legs, wrists, waist, mouth, eyes, and head, and the house ransacked.

It was determined that the physical and emotional stress and trauma of struggling to breathe caused a heart attack. Carlin and co-defendant Starla Richmond, age 46, told friends they went to the victim ‘to slap him around a little' and rob him of money, drugs, and jewelry in retaliation for alleged conduct towards Richmond.

After committing the crime, Carlin and Richmond engaged in sexual intercourse and took a shower. They then left food for the victim's dog and took his car so it would look like he was not home.

In March of 1994, Carlin was found guilty of murder and first-degree residential robbery and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Richmond was found guilty of second- degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. She was paroled in 2011.

The Office of the District Attorney had successfully argued against Carlin's release at a parole hearing on April 25, 2017, in which he received a three-year denial. However, despite only serving 17 months of that denial, Carlin petitioned the parole board for an advanced hearing under a penal code section that allows the parole board, in its discretion, to advance an inmate's parole hearing to an earlier date than he would otherwise be entitled.

The board may make this finding if a “change in circumstances” or new information establishes a reasonable likelihood that consideration of the public and victim's safety does not require the additional period of incarceration as ordered in the original parole denial. In Carlin's case, he took self-help classes.

“In a criminal case, victims and their families always ask us, ‘When will my assailant be released?' Because of years of well-intentioned legislative ‘fixes' that seem to only benefit convicted criminals, we are finding it more and more difficult to answer this question,” said District Attorney Tim Ward.

The District Attorney's Office routinely attends parole hearings and a Supervising Deputy District Attorney argued against the inmate's release in this case.