Overview
- Special Judge Christopher T. Cohron denied Shawn “Mickey” Stines’ motions to dismiss the indictment and to unseal his Kentucky Psychiatric and Correctional Center evaluation.
- The judge granted a bond hearing but ruled the sealed KCPC evaluation cannot be introduced, and the court will first decide whether Stines is legally eligible for bail.
- Defense claims of prosecutorial misconduct and misleading grand jury testimony, including on Stines’ mental state and ties to a Ben Fields civil lawsuit, were rejected by the court.
- A Letcher County grand jury indicted Stines on Nov. 21, 2024 after viewing surveillance video and hearing from Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper that showed the shooting inside Judge Kevin Mullins’ chambers.
- Stines remains in custody on a murder charge that could carry the death penalty, no bond date has been announced, and a prosecution request to move the trial out of Letcher County is still pending.