Man convicted of 1995 Providence murder to be released on parole

PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Department of Corrections has agreed to release a man convicted of murder after the ACLU argued earlier this week that he was unlawfully being held in prison despite the Parole Board's decision that he should be released, the ACLU announced Friday.

The ACLU filed a petition Tuesday on behalf of inmate Robert McKinney, who was sentenced in June 1997 to life in prison for first-degree murder, plus a consecutive 10-year sentence for conspiracy. McKinney was one of five men who were charged in the death of John D. Carpenter, who was shot in Providence in 1995.

The ACLU claimed that the Department of Corrections had changed his parole eligibility date after he began his prison sentences and said that the change would have forced him to spend at least three extra years in prison, despite the Parole Board's May 2019 decision that he qualified for release.

The Department of Corrections agreed to release McKinney under a stipulation signed by Superior Court Judge Robert Krause and entered Friday, the ACLU said.

As of midday Friday, McKinney hadn't been released, according to his attorney, Lisa Holley.

"Because he is being released on parole, he will still have to go through the standard pre-release protocol. That usually takes several days," she said in an email.

The ACLU claims the department made an "unannounced decision to change the way it calculates parole eligibility dates for individuals serving consecutive sentences for their crimes, and to apply the change retroactively."

In addition to McKinney, dozens of inmates are affected by the change, according to the ACLU.

The stipulation on McKinney's case does not address the legality of the Department of Corrections' policy change, but the department does acknowledge that McKinney is “eligible for release to the community on the terms set forth by the Parole Board and without the need or requirement to serve additional time in the institution before such release to the community.”

The ACLU says its reviewing a further challenge to the Department of Corrections policy application in regards to other inmates.