Porterville Man Who Tried to Kill Cops Gets Life Sentence

Marwin McDarment, 44, received 216 years to life in state prison on Wednesday for the attempted murder of multiple peace officers during a 2011 shootout on the Tule River Reservation.

Marwin McDarment, 44, was sentenced to 216 years to life in prison on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (Tulare County DA’s Office)

The sentence for the Porterville man was announced by Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward in a news release on Thursday.

According to evidence presented at trial, McDarment arrived at a house on the reservation and pulled a revolver on those inside but fled when they called authorities. While en route to the call,  deputies saw McDarment’s truck and conducted a felony traffic stop.

McDarment shot at the deputies, who returned fire. With help from a tribal officer, the deputies subdued and arrested McDarment, who was airlifted to a Visalia hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, the Porterville Recorder reported at the time.

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Extensive Criminal History

On Aug. 8 of this year, a jury convicted McDarment on two counts of premeditated attempted murder of a peace officer, assault with a firearm of a peace officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

The court also found that McDarment had prior strikes for assault with a deadly weapon (1996), attempted carjacking (2004), and assault with a deadly weapon with great bodily injury
(2004).

Eight different attorneys represented McDarment on the shootout charges and they filed numerous trial continuances, resulting in an 11-year quest for justice by the DA’s office.

Supervising deputy DA Jessica Weatherly prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.

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