Despite hearing blistering comments from the victim’s family, convicted murderer James Carlton kept his composure during a sentencing hearing Thursday, during which a judge imposed a 22.25-year prison term. If Carlton, age 67 and in poor health, survives the sentence, he will serve the rest of his life on probation.

Despite hearing blistering comments from the victim’s family, convicted murderer James Carlton kept his composure during a sentencing hearing Thursday, during which a judge imposed a 22.25-year prison term. If Carlton, age 67 and in poor health, survives the sentence, he will serve the rest of his life on probation.
Circuit Judge Hale Stancil imposed the sentence, which exceeded the 20.5-year minimum term but fell short of the life term recommended in a pre-sentencing investigation.
The judge awarded Carlton 1,303 days credit for time served in jail pending resolution of the case.
On Aug. 29, a jury found Carlton guilty of second-degree murder in the Dec. 3, 2010, death of Michael Nichols, 41. Carlton had been charged with first-degree murder with a firearm.
Assistant State Attorneys Amy Berndt and William Gladson believe Carlton fatally shot Nichols for his prescription medication, which Carlton would then give to a woman for whom he had feelings.
Trial evidence showed that Nichols had a prescription pill problem resulting from injuries sustained in a serious car accident.
Nichols’ sister, Cindy Dunham, told the judge on Thursday that her brother had chosen a lifestyle with which the rest of the family disagreed. Although he was not a bad person, he had made some bad choices.
A month before his death, she said, she had decided to put the past to rest and move toward reconciliation.
“However, he didn’t get the chance to do that,” Dunham said.
She said the family began looking for Nichols, only to eventually find out he died at the hands of Carlton.
“He killed him and thought nothing of it,” Dunham said. “He killed our brother and showed no remorse.“
Carlton, sitting in the jury box among other Marion County Jail inmates, remained stoic throughout the family’s comments.
Defense attorney Tania Alavi told the judge that since the case is considered to be on appeal status, she advised her client to be careful about his statements.
Carlton did not speak during the hearing except to answer three short questions asked by Stancil.
The judge appointed the Public Defender’s Office for purposes of the appeal.
“To have someone ripped from your life by the hands of another is a grief like no other that words can express,” Dunham said.
At trial, the defense argued that no motive existed for the crime, and that Carlton was the most stable individual out of the cast of characters that paraded into the courtroom from the Highlands area, which is near Dunnellon.
No DNA or video surveillance linked Carlton to the crime. But two witnesses did. In their testimony, both admitted having knowledge of the crime that they did not immediately reveal to law enforcement. They also somewhat aided in burying Nichols’ body.
Neither witness received immunity, and neither was charged with a crime.
Upon delivery of the verdict, the jury took Berndt up on her offer to voice its displeasure about that lack of prosecution by writing a personal note on the back of the jury form. Each of the 12 panelists signed the statement.
During the sentencing hearing Thursday, Alavi, who tried the case with law partner Andrew Pozzuto, sought to use that to garner some relief for Carlton.
“I am asking for a downward departure in this case based on the jury’s decision and based on the jury’s findings and comments,” she said.
Stancil instead tacked on an additional two years to the minimum sentence and denied a defense motion for a new trial.
Before the sentencing hearing concluded, members of Nichols’ immediate family gathered around the podium to explain the impact his death had on them.
Dunham said watching her parents grieve was unbearable, and she hopes Carlton spends the rest of his life in prison.
Next, brother Robert Nichols spoke.
“Mr. Carlton, as a Christian man I am commanded to forgive you,” he said. “But, Jesus Christ, that is hard, that is very hard. But I do, because my brother’s murder was your burden to carry, not mine. That guilt’s on you.“
Nichols’ mother, Barbara, said she could not forgive Carlton, whom she said has shown no remorse.
“He didn’t deserve, nor would anybody deserve, what happened to Michael because of a bottle of pills,” she said.
Contact April Warren at 867-4065 or [email protected].