Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is being ordered to appear in court next month, according to a new court filing.
He’s scheduled to appear June 5 at 10 a.m. in the Leslie County Courtroom. The appearance will involve a status hearing and a discussion of the pretrial motions.
Stines previously appeared in Letcher County Court last December. He’s charged with the murder of former Letcher County Judge Kevin Mullins.
Stines was caught on video shooting and killing Mullins in his chambers in 2024. His lawyers are pursuing an insanity defense, arguing he “lacked the capacity to intend” to shoot Mullins.
In the past few months, motions have been filed to permanently change the trial’s venue from Letcher County and to take the death penalty off the table. A motion is also pending to set bond for Stines.
The prosecution says it’s looking for a change in venue because of the significant media coverage the case has gotten and Stines’ ties to the community.
Meanwhile, the defense is looking to conduct a hearing to judge whether Stines has a serious mental illness or intellectual disability, which would shield him from the death penalty according to Kentucky law. Judge Chris Cohron previously denied a motion that would unseal a psychological evaluation undertaken by Stines.
Stines’ legal team also previously filed a motion to recuse Cohron from the case, arguing he had personal ties with Mullins. Previous court filings have cited a video that shows Cohron and Mullins sitting together at a Kentucky Judicial Commission committee meeting on mental health a week before the shooting.
Cohron denied that motion, arguing there are no facts or circumstances from the video that put his impartiality into question.
