A lawyer for the Kentucky sheriff who gunned down a judge in the judge’s chambers last month says the murder occured “in the heat of passion” and wasn’t planned.
Defense attorney Jeremy Bartley didn’t say what Mickey Stines’ motive might have been for shooting District Judge Kevin Mullins on September 19.
“We believe there had to be a compelling reason for Sheriff Stines to feel like he had to take action,” he told PEOPLE. “We are looking forward to obtaining additional information and begin to tell his story.”
Stines waited until last week to resign as sheriff of Letcher County, just before a hearing in which the court saw video of the murder, as CrimeOnline reported. In the video, Stines is seen standing over Mullins, who is sitting at his desk, and shooting him. Mullins falls to the floor and struggles to get up, but Stines shoots him several more times. He fired once more before leaving the judge’s chambers and surrendering to deputies outside.
Testimony at the hearing also indicated that Mullins and Stines, along with other people, had lunch together earlier that day and that Mullins had asked the sheriff if they needed to meet in private. Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper testified that the full video from the judge’s chamber shows Stines making a phone call to his juvenile daughter from his own phone and then making the same call from Mullins’ phone seconds before he killed the judge.
Stamper also said the daughter, whose age has not been revealed, has spoken with investigators. The detective testified that Stines did not provide a motive for the murder, although he said he was told the sheriff said something about someone trying to kidnap his wife and daughter.
The judge ruled that there was enough evidence to send the case to a grand jury.
Stines has entered a not guilty plea to first degree murder, and his attorney said that he believes “the highest level of culpability should be manslaughter based on the partial defense of extreme emotional disturbance.”
“It was not something that was planned and occurred in the heat of passion,” Bartley said.
Stines was a bailiff in Mullins court until he was elected sheriff in 2018. He was reelected in 2022. Mullins was appointed to the bench by then-Gov. Steve Beshear, the current governor’s father, in 2009 and won election to the seat the following year.
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[Featured image: Mickey Stines/Letcher County Sheriff’s Office and Kevin D. Mullins/47th Judicial District]
