The legal team defending a former Letcher County Sheriff accused of shooting and killing a District Court Judge in his chambers has filed a motion to take the death penalty off the table.
Attorneys for Shawn “Mickey” Stines are asking for a hearing to determine if Stines has a serious intellectual disability or serious mental illness.
State law also says a defendant who has been found to have a serious intellectual disability or mental illness shall not be subject to execution.
Stines' attorneys are asking that the hearing be held only after the resolution of a pending recusal motion.
They are asking Special Judge Christopher Cohron to recuse himself from the trial, arguing that his association with Judge Kevin Mullins raises doubts about his impartiality.
The Kentucky Supreme Court sent the recusal request back to Letcher Circuit Court, to be decided by Cohron himself.
Stines is charged with the murder of Mullins in September 2024.
Stines is currently being held in the Leslie County Jail.
