I did some digging after you posted last night. All I saw was where the new guy is trying to hire deputies. I could not find that there were other deputies under him (as we both assumed there would be) so I thought maybe he truly was a one man show. Their Sheriff department seems to function more as a tax collection department than just typica LE.Originally Posted by Bewitchingstorm
Last edited by raisedbywolves; 08-26-2025 at 07:40 AM.
I want to say there were deputies under him, as one of them was accused of sexual misconduct. I'll need to find the article.
Here it is.
https://www.courier-journal.com/stor...g/75298516007/In a 2022 suit filed in U.S. District Court alleging a Letcher County deputy sheriff offered "favorable treatment for sexual favors," Stines was listed as a defendant for "for allegedly failing to properly train" the deputy sheriff, the Courier Journal previously reported.
So sounds like the whole department was sketchy.
Totally.
I still think there was something fishy going on given the judge had his daughter's phone number.
The wife of a Kentucky sheriff accused of shooting dead a judge in his own chambers has defended her daughter to deny she had any relationship with the married victim.
After the shocking incident, rumors swirled about Mullins' connection to Stines' minor daughter when her number appeared on his phone.
But the young girl and Stines' wife Caroline vehemently denied the suggestions.
The duo told Kentucky State Police detectives that neither of them had ever had any relationship with Mullins, who was married with two children.
During grand jury testimony, State Police Detective Clayton Stamper maintained that the minor never had any contact with Mullins via text, social media, phone calls or in person.https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ge-murder.htmlBut Stamper accepted her number did appear in Mullins' phone.
Court records also shed new light on Stines' mental health immediately after the shooting.
A medical report from Leslie County Detention Center staff revealed he was still in a state of 'active psychosis' for days after the shooting.
The September 23 report read: 'Upon evaluation of Mr. Stines, it appears that he is still in an active state of psychosis.'
'He appears disoriented and is only aware of things jail staff tell him. He has no recollection of the recent past.'
Last edited by Bewitchingstorm; 09-04-2025 at 03:48 AM.
I read in another article that he was in psychosis before the shooting as well. Calling family members that were deceased and such. There was speculation it was brought on by the civil case addressing the sex for freedom allegations.
Here it is. Although it's Fox so take it as you will:
https://fox56news.com/news/kentucky/...hooting-judge/
WHITESBURG, Ky. (FOX 56) — Multiple witnesses reportedly believe the former Letcher County sheriff was experiencing psychosis during the fatal shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins almost a year ago.
Shots rang out inside the Letcher County courthouse on Sept. 19, 2024, killing the 54-year-old district judge. Kentucky State Police said former sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is the one who pulled the trigger. The entire exchange was captured by security cameras.
For nearly a year, questions have loomed regarding why the sheriff decided to do what he’s accused of. His attorney Jeremey Bartley has continuously pointed to a civil case involving sheriff’s deputies, the judge’s chambers, and a reported sex for favors scheme.
“It’s like they were running a brothel out of that courtroom,” Attorney Ned Pillersdorf said.
But the extent of Mullins’ involvement has long been questioned. Since the shooting, three women have come out stating they witnessed the judge participating, or were one of his alleged victims.
“I’ve had sex with him in the chambers,” Tya Adams said. “I was part of it. I was one of them.”
Stines was deposed three days before the shooting in relation to the sex-for-favors reports after having to terminate one of his deputies for his involvement that dated back to 2021.
According to court documents, investigators interviewed Attorney Daniel Dotson the day after the shooting. Dotson reportedly testified that he urged Stines to seek help.
“Dotson also told the KSP that he spoke to Kevin Mullins and told him that Mickey was ‘losing it’ and ‘couldn’t take this kind of pressure’ in reference to the Civil suit involving ‘some crack whore wanting money,'” Bartley wrote.
The pair had reportedly spoken the night before Mullins’ death, and Dotson recalled telling his wife that “that son of a [expletive] has lost his mind,” referencing Stines.
Christine Bolling, a Letcher County Sheriff’s Office staff member, was concerned about his “very strange behavior.” Specifically, also on Sept. 18, court documents state that Stines told Bolling that “Daniel Dotson had told him to give him money and kill himself or ‘they’ were going to kill,” Stines’ wife and daughter.
The sheriff then insisted that he went home to check on his family, made her get his bulletproof vest on, and had someone call to check on his daughter, per court documents. This is all reportedly captured on Ring camera footage.
Witnesses said that he was also making phone calls on the day of the shooting to check on family members who had been deceased for years.
FOX 56 previously reported that in the security camera footage of the shooting, just moments before pulling the trigger, Stines uses his and the judge’s cell phone to make calls to his daughter. Moments after the calls were made, the video shows the sheriff standing from his chair and proceeding to point a gun at the judge, shooting Mullins several times.
Why Stines called his daughter has long been questioned. Bartley affirms that the sheriff was in fear for the lives of his wife and daughter.
It’s unclear if there is any merit to Dotson’s alleged threat.
Body camera footage obtained by FOX News Digital shows Stines appearing paranoid, pleading not to be shot and killed shortly after he was taken into custody. His legs are trembling as he scans the area around him.
“I leave this building, I won’t take another breath,” Stines pleaded.
Bartley noted that medical records show evaluations that observed signs of “active psychosis.”
Despite this, detectives testified to a Letcher County grand jury that it’s believed Stines was sane at the time of the shooting, and that Mullins had no involvement in the civil case to their knowledge.
Bartley hopes that the indictment against his client will be dismissed based on information reportedly withheld from the grand jurors.
Mullins was never criminally charged in connection with the acts that reportedly occurred inside his chambers.
Very odd. It sounds like he was under a great deal of stress and possibly suspected something was going on with the judge and his daughter.
People were noticing that he was "losing it" why did no one feel the need to take his gun away? Or maybe it happened too fast...
Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.
https://www.wymt.com/2025/12/30/atto...-murder-trial/
The defense team representing former Letcher Co. Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is asking for Judge Christopher Cohron to be recused from presiding over his murder trial.
The motion was filed by Stines’ attorneys on Tuesday.
In the motion, it says it was filed “on the grounds that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
According to the motion, the defense team for Stines is asking for the recusal of Cohron, citing claims of having a relationship with the victim, district judge Kevin Mullins.
It is is a rural part of the state, so they will have a difficult time finding a judge who did not know him.
Terrible situation all around.
Attorneys for jailed former Letcher County, Kentucky sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines have submitted a motion to exclude the death penalty from his trial for first-degree murder.
In December 2025, Stines’ attorneys sought the recusal of the judge presiding over the trial.
The motion seeking Judge Christopher Cohron’s recusal cites Kentucky state law and claims that Cohron’s impartiality as a judge in the case might be reasonably questioned.https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/atto...mickey-stines/Now, those attorneys are requesting that the death penalty be excluded from Stines’ trial because they claim he has a “serious intellectual disability or serious mental illness.”
According to the motion submitted Monday by Stines’ attorneys, KRS 532.140 states, “a defendant who has been determined to be a defendant with a serious intellectual disability or a defendant with serious mental illness under KRS 532.135 shall not be subject to execution.”
Stines’s representation requested a hearing to determine his intellectual functioning and/or mental health status before his murder trial. The attorneys also requested that the motion to exclude the death penalty be set after a resolution is made in their judge recusal motion from December.
The judge presiding over the trial for the former Letcher County sheriff accused of shooting and killing another judge has denied a motion that sought his recusal.
Former sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines faces charges of first-degree murder and murder of a public official in the death of district judge Kevin Mullins in September 2024.
Stines’ attorney filed a motion in December 2025, requesting that Judge Christopher Cohron recuse himself from the case.
Cohron claimed that while he and Mullins could be seen as colleagues on a purely professional level, that would not interfere with his duty to uphold the law.
The motion was sent to the Supreme Court of Kentucky, which sent the matter back to the Letcher County Circuit Court in January 2026 for a decision.https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/judg...-murder-trial/The Supreme Court of Kentucky stated that if Cohron recused himself, the matter was concluded, but if he denied the order, Stines’ attorneys could seek a further review.
On Friday, Cohron denied the motion, stating he had no bias in the case and that there were no facts that would call that into question.
“As I have no personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, and there are no surrounding facts and circumstances upon which an objective observer might reasonably question my impartiality, the Motion is DENIED,” Cohron wrote.
Stines’ attorneys had pointed to a video from a week before Mullins died, which showed Cohron and Mullins seated near one another during a Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health.
The motion sought Cohron’s recusal on the basis that he had disclosed the fact that he and Mullins had been in such proximity for hours the week before Mullins’ death.
He was a sheriff. He's going to have had some type of relationship with any judge anywhere near this area. If anything, I would think that would play in his favor. I wonder if this judge didn't like him when he was Sheriff and he thought he would get one of his buddies instead?
Less than a month after his original request was denied, former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is fighting to have the judge removed from his case.
Stines previously requested that Judge Christopher Cohron recuse himself from the case, arguing that he couldn’t be impartial.https://www.courttv.com/news/ex-sher...dge-from-case/Stines’ defense pointed to a video of a Sept. 12, 2024, meeting of the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health. There, just seven days before the shooting, Cohron and Mullins sat next to each other for the two-hour gathering.
Now, Stines has filed an affidavit with the court, saying, in part, “It is my belief that I will not be afforded a fair and impartial trial or pretrial proceedings by Judge Cohron and seek the designation of a special judge pursuant to KRS 26A.020.
A former eastern Kentucky sheriff was back in court on Friday with questions about his mental health, bond, and where he’ll eventually stand trial.
Shawn “Mickey” Stines is accused of shooting and killing district judge Kevin Mullins inside his chambers at the Letcher County courthouse back in 2024.
At the hearing on Friday, prosecutors requested a second mental health evaluation with a private expert. The defense objected, saying that a second evaluation is not necessary. The judge said that he wanted to review the request and will issue an order shortly.https://www.wkyt.com/2026/06/05/form...tatus-hearing/Stines’ aunt, Sherri Stines, took the stand. she testified about the night mickey stayed at her house on September 18, the day before the judge was killed and described him as “fidgety” and “paranoid.”
The defense asked for a $50,000 bond, but the judge said that amount is “not entertainable” and any bond would be much higher.
Both sides also argued over a change of venue, the judge said he’ll be hard‑pressed not to move the trial out of Letcher County because of heavy publicity and will issue a written ruling later.
Former Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines will remain behind bars while he awaits trial in the killing of District Judge Kevin Mullins after a judge denied his request for bond.
In a new order, the judge said there is "strong evidence of guilt" and ruled Stines should not be released.https://www.wdrb.com/news/crime-repo...8ee81652b.htmlThe ruling comes as the case faces another major change. The trial will be moved out of Letcher County.
The judge pointed to concerns about community bias and the amount of publicity surrounding the case. The prosecution and defense have two weeks to recommend a new location.
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