A grand jury returned a murder charge Thursday against a former Eastern Kentucky sheriff accused of shooting and killing a district judge in the judge’s courthouse office.
The indictment accuses Shawn “Mickey” Stines, then-sheriff of Letcher County, of shooting and killing Judge Kevin Mullins inside Mullins’ office on Sept. 19.
The prosecutor, Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele, said after the indictment was returned that he could not comment on an alleged motive in the homicide, though police said earlier that Stines and Mullins had argued just before the shooting.
About 15 friends and family members of the slain judge were in the courtroom Thursday afternoon as Judge Julia H. Adams received the indictment and set Stines’ arraignment for next Monday.
Stines has been held without bond since the shooting, and Steele said during the short hearing on Thursday that he continues to oppose any bond for Stines.
Adams said she is inclined to set a bond for Stines, meaning he would be released pending trial if he can post it.
Adams said the amount would be substantial, however.
Thursday’s indictment was not unexpected, as the shooting was captured on video, but it was the next step required for prosecuting Stines.
Stines, 43, surrendered to other police immediately after the shooting and was initially charged with murder in district court. He has been held in jail since then, and he retired as sheriff less than two weeks after the shooting.
Video of the shooting showed that when Stines pointed his gun at Mullins, the judge raised one hand, as if to ward off the threat, and then turned away from Stines and hunkered over in a defensive position. That’s when Stines shot him the first time, sending Mullins falling to the floor.
Stines then went to the other side of the desk to get a look at Mullins. The judge raised his head, then ducked behind the desk for cover and Mullins shot him again, the video showed.
Stines walked quickly to the door and opened it to leave, but then quickly turned toward Mullins, who was on the floor and appeared to still be moving. Stines fired again and then turned and left.
There was no sound in the 24-second video clip.
At an Oct. 1 hearing in the case, Clayton Stamper, a detective with the Kentucky State Police, testified that Stines tried to call his daughter on Mullins’ phone and on his own phone just before the shooting.
Stamper said Stines stood up from his chair in the judge’s office after looking at Mullins’ phone and shot him seconds later.
Steele said he could not comment on what evidence was presented to the grand jury, including whether the panel saw the video.
The crime could be eligible for the death penalty if Stines is convicted because Mullins was a public official.
Steele, who is prosecuting the case with Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office, said there had been no decision yet on whether to seek the death penalty against Stines if he is convicted.
However, Stines’ attorney, Jeremy Bartley, has said that he does not think the murder is the appropriate charge in the case.
Bartley said at the Oct. 1 hearing that the evidence offered there pointed to the shooting as being an act of “extreme emotional disturbance” in reaction to something Stines had seen on Mullins’ phone.
There was no information at the hearing about what was on the phone.
If a jury decided Stines acted out of extreme emotional disturbance, he couldn’t be convicted of murder, but rather first-degree manslaughter or a lesser crime. The death penalty would not be an option in that case.
Letcher County is a rural, mountain county in the southeast corner of Kentucky, on the Virginia border. It’s about 150 miles from Lexington.
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