Ex-Kentucky sheriff admits shooting judge, plans insanity defense: report

A former Kentucky sheriff accused of taking pictures a sitting decide in his courthouse has admitted to pulling the set off, newly filed courtroom paperwork present, as his protection leans closely on an madness argument because the case heads to trial.

Shawn “Mickey” Stines, who resigned as Letcher County sheriff after the September 2024 killing, admitted within the submitting that he shot District Decide Kevin Mullins throughout a confrontation on the Whitesburg courthouse. according to courtroom paperwork obtained by the Lexington Herald-Chief.

The video, with out audio, confirmed a person recognized by police as Stines pulling out a gun and taking pictures the decide, who was sitting at his desk. The person walked across the desk, pointed the gun on the decide and shot him repeatedly. Stines has been charged with first-degree homicide and homicide of a authorities official.

The admission comes as the previous sheriff’s attorneys have labored to ascertain that Stines suffered from “excessive emotional misery” previous to the taking pictures, suggesting his authorized group is making ready a broad madness protection, the outlet reported.

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Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines appears to be like at prosecutors throughout his arraignment on the Morgan County Courthouse in West Liberty, Kentucky, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Stines is charged with the homicide of District Decide Kevin Mullins. (AP Photograph/Timothy D. Easley)

In a doc written a couple of days after the taking pictures, a social employee who met Stines in jail mentioned he was in “an lively state of psychosis” and didn’t appear to grasp the legal expenses in opposition to him. Stines had “episodes of belligerence requiring pepper spray,” The Related Press reported.

In an announcement Stines gave to investigators within the days main as much as the taking pictures, he claimed to be affected by dizziness, complications, sweating and reminiscence loss brought on by California encephalitis, a neurological illness that outcomes from insect bites, the Herald-Chief reported.

Prosecutors haven’t but responded to the most recent expenses. Stines’ authorized group has argued that a part of his psychological analysis ought to stay sealed, a place the decide just lately defended.

Stines resigned as sheriff days after the taking pictures and is being held with out bond in japanese Kentucky.

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District Decide Kevin Mullins was killed in his decide’s chambers by Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, authorities mentioned. (Kentucky Courtroom of Justice; Letcher County Sheriff’s Workplace)

Underneath Kentucky regulation, proof of psychological incapacity or excessive emotional misery may take the demise penalty off the desk within the Stines case, the Herald-Chief reported. Nevertheless, a defendant’s requirements of intent reportedly differ in civil instances, with Mullins’ widow submitting a wrongful demise lawsuit in opposition to Stines and three different Letcher County Sheriff’s Workplace workers in September.

Kimberly Mullins and the couple’s two youngsters are reportedly accusing Stines of assault and battery, whereas claiming that three different sheriff’s workers didn’t warn or shield the decide from Stines, who confirmed indicators of being anxious, violently paranoid and psychotic.

On Nov. 12, Stines admitted to taking pictures Mullins in his reply to the civil lawsuit, including that he “exhibited paranoid and psychotic habits,” based on the Herald-Chief.

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Decide Kevin Mullins, wearing a swimsuit, palms his telephone to Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines shortly earlier than he’s shot lifeless in his personal room. (Kentucky State Police)

Stines’ attorneys reportedly moved to dismiss the case underneath the sovereign immunity doctrine, which protects authorities officers from civil legal responsibility claims whereas appearing of their official capability. Additionally they requested a decide to dismiss the negligence claims in opposition to him, arguing that the allegation should present intent.

“As sheriff, he was an worker of the county and is subsequently entitled to the identical sovereign immunity afforded to the county itself,” his attorneys wrote, based on the Herald-Chief. “On this foundation, the official capability claims in opposition to Shawn Stines should be dismissed.”

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Moreover, Stines’ attorneys reportedly detailed a attainable protection they may use to painting their consumer’s frame of mind through the alleged homicide, insisting that he was “uncontrolled” and suffered from “pre-existing circumstances.”

Stines’ attorneys didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.

Final week, a decide reportedly denied two requests to dismiss the legal expenses in opposition to Stines, together with his attorneys saying prosecutors by no means knowledgeable the grand jury of their consumer’s psychological state when the crime was dedicated and that the proceedings have been deliberately not recorded.