Kentucky ex-sheriff’s ‘frivolous’ insanity claim won’t fly in judge’s suspected murder: former prosecutors

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Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines questioned by police moments after fatal shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins

Former Letcher County, Kentucky Sheriff Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines is questioned by state police just minutes after District Judge Kevin Mullins was shot and killed.

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Two former prosecutors say that the insanity defense planned by the defense attorney representing former Letcher County, Kentucky, Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines will not hold up.

Stines is accused of shooting and killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in the judge’s chambers inside the Letcher County Courthouse on Sept. 19, 2024, in an attack that was captured on surveillance video.

“It’s very rare in most states, including Kentucky, the insanity defense and similar mental health defenses rarely work, because if the person knows right from wrong at the time they committed some criminal act, then any mental health issues are, I guess, secondary,” Phil Holloway, a former prosecutor and legal analyst based in Georgia, told Fox News Digital. “If they know right from wrong, they can still be convicted even if they have a mental health issue.”

‘EXTREMELY PARANOID’ KENTUCKY SHERIFF QUESTIONED BY POLICE MOMENTS AFTER JUDGE’S FATAL SHOOTING: VIDEO

Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines, right, is seen pointing his gun at District Court Judge Kevin Mullins. (Letcher County Handout)

Last week, Fox News Digital released video footage of a Kentucky State Police (KSP) investigator and two troopers questioning a paranoid Stines in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. 

“I leave this building, I won’t draw another breath,” Stines told KSP Investigator Clayton Stamper, who led the investigation. 

“Y’all are gonna kill me, aren’t you?” he asked at one point in the interview. “Y’all are gonna kill me, I know you are. Let’s just get it over with. Let’s just go.”

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Holloway said even if the sheriff was paranoid, he still knew that the killing was wrong. 

“If you look at the sheriff’s video from his discussions with law enforcement in the hallway right after the shooting, the sheriff expresses that he’s concerned that the police or some other unnamed third party might hurt him or kill him,” Holloway said. 

KENTUCKY SHERIFF SEEN IN FOOTAGE SHOOTING AT JUDGE IN SHOCKING PRELIMINARY HEARING

A Kentucky State Police trooper and former Letcher County Sheriff’s deputy tries to calm Shawn Stines, right, down during questioning.  (Kentucky State Police)

“And he’s asking the cops, you know, he’s even alleging that the police might stop en route to the jail to allow somebody else to do something. Now, those things might seem paranoid, and they may seem irrational, but at the same time, when he expresses those things to the officers, to me that indicates that he knows that killing is wrong. 

“It’s interesting because he’s telling the cop, he’s telling the police not to do it. So, in a way, he’s telegraphing that he knows right from wrong. And he knows that killing is wrong because he’s asking the police to not kill him.”

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Michael Wynne, a former prosecutor based in Houston, agrees with Holloway, especially given the surveillance footage from Mullins’ chambers in the moments leading up to the shooting. 

“I think this is a frivolous defense,” he told Fox News Digital. “The video shows he knows what he’s doing is wrong. If you don’t know what you’re doing is wrong, you don’t usher everybody else out of the room, and you don’t go ahead and make sure the door is closed. Those are all things that show that he has an ability to make cognizant decisions.”

KENTUCKY COURTHOUSE WHERE SHERIFF ALLEGEDLY KILLED JUDGE PLAGUED BY SEX ABUSE ALLEGATIONS: LAWSUIT

Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines looks over at the prosecutors during his arraignment at the Morgan County Courthouse in West Liberty, Kentucky, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Stines is accused of killing District Judge Kevin Mullins. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Wynne said he believes the best Stines will be able to do is plead guilty to the charges in hopes of taking the death penalty off the table, or potentially being given an opportunity for parole. 

“Based on the facts, he will lose the case [and] there will be a guilty verdict,” Wynne said. “Now, the jury and judge are not supposed to weigh the fact that the defense puts on a case here of insanity. But people are people. And, you know, he’ll be punished by the judge and the jury for raising what I think this is a frivolous defense.”

According to Stines’ attorney, Jeremy Bartley, his defense is closely tied to allegations of sexual abuse that plagued Letcher County authorities, including some in the courthouse. 

Three days before the shooting, Stines was deposed in a civil sexual assault case against his former deputy, Ben Shields, who was accused of sexually abusing a woman. Stines was also named for failing to supervise Fields.

MOTIVE REVEALED IN KENTUCKY SHERIFF’S ALLEGED KILLING OF JUDGE AS BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT ANALYZES NEW VIDEO

Defense attorney Jeremy Bartley asked questions of KSP Detective Clayton Stamper at Shawn “Mickey” Stines preliminary hearing at Morgan County District Court. Oct. 1, 2024. (Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Bartley declined to comment for this story but previously told Fox News Digital, “I think one of the big things is that my client felt there had been pressure placed on him not to say too much during the deposition, and not to talk about things that happened within the courthouse, particularly in the judge’s chambers.”

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Bartley said that threats against Stines’ family caused the paranoia to reach a fever pitch. 

“On the day that this [shooting] happened, my client had attempted multiple times to contact his wife and daughter, and he firmly believed that they were in danger,” Bartley said. “He believed that they were in danger because of what he knew to have happened within the courthouse. And there was pressure, and there were threats made to him to sort of keep him in line, to keep them from saying more than these folks wanted him to say.”

Peter D’Abrosca joined Fox News Digital in 2025 after four years as a politics reporter at The Tennessee Star. 

He grew up in Rhode Island and is a graduate of Elon University. 

Follow Peter on X at @pmd_reports. Send story tips to peter.dabrosca@fox.com.