Attorneys for former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines have asked the Kentucky Court of Appeals to block a second mental health evaluation in the trial for the 2024 murder of a judge.
Stines, 44, has been charged with the murder of Letcher County Judge Kevin Mullins. The September 2024 shooting was captured on security cameras in Mullins’ chambers at the Letcher County courthouse and has been widely circulated.
The defense argues Stines “lacked the capacity to intend” to shoot Mullins and has said he will use an insanity defense in the case.
As part of proceedings, Warren Circuit Judge Christopher Cohron denied a motion last year to unseal the results of Stines' initial mental health evaluation. He was examined by Tim Allen, a doctor with the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center.
On Aug. 11, Cohron ordered a re-examination of Stines’ mental health at the request of prosecutors, this time to be administered by George Parker, a psychiatrist from Indiana.
In a Sept. 30 filing, Stines’ legal team seeks to block the second examination, arguing Cohron does not have the authority to enforce it. They claim prosecutors were dissatisfied with the original results, despite no mistakes being identified.
“In its request for an additional evaluation, the Commonwealth did not identify any methodological testing error, incomplete testing, or other deficiency in the KCPC examination,” a legal filing reads.
Stines is asking the Kentucky Court of Appeals to block the motion.
“There is no evidence, or even a suggestion, that there was anything deficient in the first examination methods, testing, or any technical issues,” the filing reads. “The Commonwealth is simply dissatisfied with the opinion its chosen examiner produced. Despite the pedestal upon which all prosecutors place KCPC, the Commonwealth now asks to discard and seal their opinion and start a fresh set of testing on Mr. Stines.”
The re-evaluation is scheduled for Oct. 14 unless the motion to block it succeeds.
WEKU has reached out to prosecutors and Stines' legal team for comment.
