A sheriff in Kentucky who shot and killed a local judge last year can prepare for a madness of defense when he ends up.
A lawyer for accused Killer, the former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn 'Mickey' Stines, 43, this week indicated that the state of mind at the time of the shooting of district judge Kevin Mullins will be the key to his upcoming process.
Lawyer Jeremy Bartley has issued a legal application this week in which he explained his plans for a insanity defense on behalf of Stines, according to Wate.
Bartley told NewsNation on Wednesday that since recording the case he has considered a series of defenses, including arguing extreme emotional need for a madness that would remove all criminal responsibility.
He said that the case will depend on a testimony that gave Stines on a statement days before the shooting in September 2024. The Sheriff saw that answer questions about one of his delegates who are reportedly sexually prisoners sexually abuse.
In that case, a prosecutor claimed that she was forced by a deputy sheriff to have six months of sex in Mullin's chambers in exchange for staying out of prison.
Bartley said Stines feared that the recoil of his statement of his statement made sure that he feared that his or his family's life was in danger.
The lawyer said that the 'mental health' of Stijnen was influenced by the observed threat.
“In the end he was afraid of the safety of his wife and his daughter, and I think what you see is the result of that,” said the lawyer.
Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn 'Mickey' Stines, 43, will issue an insane defense in the fatal shooting of district judge Kevin Mullins in September 2024
Stijnen, seen after his arrest, reportedly said officers that his 'wife and child' were in danger when he was held for the shooting of Mullins
Since Mullins was shot in his own rooms, accusations have been made that his courtroom was used by one of the representatives of Stines in a scandal for the favorite sentence
It comes in the midst of accusations that Judge Mullins himself may be bound to a sex-for-favorite scandal in their small town of Whitesburg.
When Stines was taken into custody for the shooting, he reportedly exclaimed: “They try to kidnap my wife and child.”
Prosecutor Sabrina Adkins claimed that, in addition to other women, she was forced to have sex with former deputy Sheriff Ben Fields in exchange for favorable treatment after their arrests.
She told newsnation that Mullins has a number of video tapes of some things in the rooms of the judge … Only with girls, sexual and such. ”
Fields was fired by Stijnen before they were finally arrested and sentenced to six months in prison. The testimony of Stines in the federal court about the case has since been linked to the Mullins shooting.
In his submission this week, Bartley said that 'expert evidence with regard to a mental illness or defect or mental state with regard to feelings of guilt and punishment' will be presented in his case.
Bartley said he believes that there might be more evidence that a finding would support that he was not criminal responsible, but did not offer any details.
In the last court of Stines on January 17, public prosecutor Jackie Steele said that he expects the former Sheriff not to be tried for some time, because the discovery process can take more than six months to complete.
But Bartley said he had submitted his notification to use a mental health defense in the process, because the Studies Act obliged him to do this, and normally we obliged to do it much later. '
“We don't have a test date yet, but in the interest of accelerating the inevitable evaluation that the Commonwealth would like to take place (in prison), we continued and gave that notification,” he added.
Stines's lawyer said this week that there might be more evidence that a finding would support that he was not criminal responsible for the shooting
The lawyer of Stines, Jeremy Bartley, said this week that 'expert evidence with regard to a mental illness or defect or mental state with regard to guilt and punishment' will be presented in the coming test
Since the shooting, Stines has remained in custody, which was recorded on shocking images that showed that the sheriff entered the rooms of Mullins and shoots eight bullets in him.
In the moments before that, civil servants said Stines tried to call his daughter before they took Mullins's phone and also tried to call her.
The motive behind the shooting has still not been offered by officers of justice.
The prosecutors said the shooting apparently came out of nowhere, because the sheriff and the judge had enjoyed lunch together that afternoon and shared an outside table in the popular Streetside Grill & Bar in Main Street for lunch, just a few hundred meters from the Court of the Court.
The couple had long been friends and lunchtime Lamgasten together in the sports bar and on that fateful Thursday they ordered their usual – both with the $ 13.99 wings with salad.
Detectives investigate a potential motif, with a theory reportedly investigating by investigators whether Stines discovered his daughter's telephone number in Mullins' phone.
Stines, seen in his mugshot, did not argue guilty of killing charges after his arrest, and his lawyer indicated that he intends to give an insanity defense during the trial
CCTV images that were played in court during a provisional hearing on 2 October showed stands that his phone checked before they called a phone call from the judge.
Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper testified that he was told that the sheriff had tried to contact his daughter from both devices.
The two men had become friends after Stines had served the bailiff of Mullins in his courthouse since 2009, before he was elected Sheriff in 2018.
Video of the shooting shows Stijnen who point his weapon to Mullins while his hands are lifted in the desk – but the Sheriff lawyers insist that the murder was not planned.
“It wasn't something that was planned and took place in the heat of passion. For us, the highest level of culpability should be manslaughter on the basis of the partial defense of extreme emotional disruption, “Bartley told people earlier.
