A former Kentucky sheriff accused of kill a judge final yr, shocking their tight-knit Appalachian group, he appeared remotely from a jail Friday for a courtroom listening to as protection attorneys and prosecutors mentioned preliminary issues main as much as the homicide trial.
Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines has been jailed since final September’s homicide, however his attorneys have indicated they may ask for bail to be set at one other yet-to-be-scheduled listening to.
Circuit Court Judge Christopher Cohron stated he could be “completely happy to speak about bail.” It was Cohron’s first listening to since his appointment final month as a particular decide within the case. Defense legal professional Jeremy Bartley spoke on the difficulty of whether or not or not Stines ought to be launched. The bond had remained in limbo till Cohron’s appointment.
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Stines is accused of fatally capturing Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins within the decide’s workplace. Mullins died on the scene and Stines, who was sheriff on the time, surrendered with out incident.
Stine is what indicted by a grand jury for the homicide of a public official. The former lawyer he pleaded not guilty. Him he resigned a few days after the Sept. 19 shooting on the courthouse in Whitesburg, an Appalachian city about 100 miles (146 kilometers) southeast of Lexington, Kentucky, close to the Virginia border.
Video of the judge being shot was performed out in a dramatic courtroom listening to final yr. The video, with out sound, confirmed a person recognized by police as Stines pulling out a gun and capturing Mullins as he sat at his desk. The man walked across the desk, pointed the gun on the decide – who had fallen to the ground – and shot once more. Stines may face the loss of life penalty if he’s convicted of the homicide cost.
Participants within the courtroom listening to on Friday appeared through video convention. Stines confirmed no emotion as he sat silently behind his attorneys on the jap Kentucky jail the place he’s being held.
Bartley advised the decide that protection attorneys are reviewing “voluminous” quantities of potential proof offered by prosecutors. It may take prosecutors one other 4 to 6 months to assemble all of the potential proof and full its testing, prosecutor Jackie Steele stated.
“We nonetheless have some issues coming and being examined,” Steele stated.
No particular proof was talked about Friday and police gave no motive for the capturing. Stines and Mullins had identified one another for years. On the day of the capturing, they met for lunch with a number of different individuals close to the courthouse, a Kentucky State Police detective stated at an earlier listening to.
