According to Shawn “Mickey Stines” attorney, the Kentucky sheriff accused of murdering a district judge in his chambers at night, did not plan the crime, and was not in his right frame of mind.
Defense attorney Jeremy Bartley told People that this incident “was not planned but happened out of passion”. “We believe the highest level of criminality should be manslaughter based on an emotional disturbance defense. ”
In the video that was shown without sound at a preliminary hearing held on October 1, it is alleged that Letcher County Sheriff Stines shot district judge Kevin Mullins multiple times as he sat on his desk on September 19,
After Mullins fell to the ground, the sheriff, a longtime friend and co-worker of the judge continued to fire.
Bartley said, “We believe there must have been an important reason for Sheriff Stines to feel he had to act. “We are looking forward to gathering more information and telling his story. ”
According to the Louisville Courier-Journal Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper at the preliminary hearing in the case, two men had lunch with a large group only hours before the shooting.
According to the Associated Press: Stamper testified that he was told by the judge, “Do you want to meet in my chambers privately?”
Stamper says that Stines called his daughter on Mullins first, then his phone. The AP reports Stines’ daughter in Mullins’s contact list.
Stamper responded, “It is possible but I cannot say for certain,” when asked whether Stines’ motivation to shoot Mullins stemmed from what Stines had seen on the phone with the judge.
Stamper confirmed to the AP having spoken with Stamper but did not elaborate. “But he seemed calm…” He said, “Treat Me Fairly”.
Stamper reported Stines told a second police officer that when he was arrested “they were trying to kidnap my wife and child.”
Letcher County, Kentucky has been shaken by the shootings that took place in Whitesburg. Stines worked as a bailiff in Mullins court before becoming sheriff of Letcher County in 2018.
“We’re all in a state of shock over it,” Garnard Kincer Jr., Mullins’ friend and former mayor of Jenkins, told People. “It practically immobilized us. We just can’t believe it happened.”
Stines pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder on October 2.
Bartley could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
