Ex-sheriff to get bond hearing more than a year after being charged with killing a Kentucky judge

A judge refused to dismiss the murder indictment against a former Kentucky sheriff accused of gunning down a judge in his courthouse chambers, but will allow a bond hearing for the ex-lawman now jailed for more than a year, according to rulings released Thursday.

At the upcoming bond hearing, defense attorneys cannot discuss the contents of a sealed mental health evaluation of former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines, said Circuit Judge Christopher Cohron. A date for the hearing was not immediately set by Cohron, who serves as special judge in the case.

Cohron said in the ruling Wednesday that “a bail hearing is not a trial rehearsal.”

In granting the defense request for the bond hearing, the judge said: “The court will first hear evidence to determine whether the defendant is bailable. If the defendant is found to be bailable, the court may then consider setting a bond.”

Stines is accused of killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in September 2024 at the courthouse in Whitesburg. Security camera footage from Mullins’ chambers showed a man police identified as Stines pointing a gun and firing at Mullins. Mullins died at the scene and Stines, who was sheriff at the time, surrendered without incident.

Stines has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder of a public official.

Whether bond is justified for the former sheriff has been an ongoing issue. In August, defense attorneys recommended a $50,000 bond, saying Stines is not a flight risk and poses no danger to himself or the community. Prosecutors have responded that Stines is not entitled to a bond, citing a section of Kentucky’s constitution that says the right to bail doesn’t apply to people charged with a capital offense.

An attorney for Stines didn’t immediately return a phone call and email Thursday seeking comment on the judge’s rulings. Prosecutors say they’re limited in discussing an ongoing case.

Authorities haven’t revealed a possible motive for the shooting that stunned residents of Whitesburg, an Appalachian town about 100 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Lexington, Kentucky, near the Virginia border.

Stines and Mullins had known each other for years. On the day of the shooting, they met for lunch with several other people, a Kentucky State Police detective said at a prior hearing. During the lunch, the judge apparently asked Stines if they needed to meet privately.

Stines resigned as sheriff days after the shooting and has been held without bond.

In his other rulings, Cohron denied defense motions to dismiss the indictment and unseal the ex-sheriff’s mental health evaluation. In seeking the dismissal, defense arguments included claims that prosecutors elicited false and misleading testimony, thus tainting the grand jury proceedings. The judge ruled that prosecutors met the legal burden to present evidence to the grand jury showing probable cause in the case.

Stines’ lawyers have argued that the former sheriff suffered from “extreme emotional disturbance” prior to the shooting. In a document written a few days after the shooting, a social worker who met with Stines in jail said he had remained in “an active state of psychosis” and didn’t appear to understand the criminal charge against him.

His lawyers have signaled their defense will focus on an insanity or extreme emotional disturbance claim.

At a prior court hearing, a harrowing video showing the judge being gunned down was revealed. The video, with no audio, showed a man identified by police as Stines pulling out a gun and shooting at the judge, who was seated at his desk. The man walked around the desk, pointed the gun at the judge — who ducked behind the desk for cover — and fired again, it showed.

Stines could potentially face the death penalty if convicted, but prosecutors haven’t yet filed notice with the court on whether they will seek the death penalty.