By Andy Rose, CNN

(CNN) — As the top cop in Letcher County, Kentucky, Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines knew all about the inside of a jail cell. But he couldn’t even recognize one in the days after Stines allegedly murdered a local judge at his own desk, according to a social worker who examined him.

“Upon evaluation of Mr. Stines, it appears that he is still in an active state of psychosis,” her report from four days after the shooting states, adding that Stines was “unaware of his surroundings” and “only aware of things jail staff tell him.”

Stines’ defense team made the evaluation public as part of its effort to have the murder case against him thrown out, alleging that the first-degree murder indictment is tainted because prosecutors did not give the grand jury all of the medical records they requested.

It is the first public look at the mental state of the former sheriff, who prosecutors say shot Judge Kevin Mullins nine times in September 2024, with seven of the shots fired while the judge was on the ground next to his desk. Stines’ defense attorneys, Jeremy and Kerri Bartley, say the sheriff was insane at the time of the killing and want his full mental health report – which is currently sealed – released to the public.

Stines, 44, is being held without bond on a charge of first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty in November. Stines faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.

Sheriff was stressed out by ongoing lawsuit, friends said

Although no publicly available evaluation has classified Stines as mentally deficient, a number of coworkers and friends interviewed by state police said Stines was acting strangely in the days leading up to the shooting of Mullins.

They largely attributed Stines’ noticeable state of decline to the stress of a civil lawsuit he was facing.

The sheriff was accused of failing to properly investigate allegations that a deputy, Ben Fields, was allowing women who had been arrested to avoid incarceration in exchange for sex. At least some of the alleged encounters took place in Mullins’ office, according to the complaint.

In a plea deal, Fields was given a seven-year prison sentence with six-and-a-half years to be served on probation, according to the Mountain Eagle newspaper, but the civil case continued, and Stines testified in a deposition only three days before the murder.

Convincing a judge or jury that Stines was not in control of himself at the time he shot Mullins is critical to his defense in a case where the shooting was caught on a surveillance camera, with the video shown in open court.

Stines ‘has lost his mind,’ colleague said before shooting

Local attorney Daniel Dotson, described as a friend of the victim, warned Mullins before the shooting that “Mickey was ‘losing it’ and ‘couldn’t take this kind of pressure,’” according to a document filed by defense attorneys.

The local police chief told Dotson, “That son of a bitch has lost his mind,” according to Dotson’s testimony to investigators.

“I think his anxiety was completely off charts,” a sheriff’s office staffer told Kentucky State Police, according to the defense team. “I do feel like he was in a psychosis.”

Several witnesses testified that Stines’ paranoia was growing prior to the shooting on September 19, 2024, saying he expressed fear that “they” were going to kill his wife and daughter, without specifying who “they” were.

Stines had an appointment with his family doctor the day before the shooting, where he was “accompanied by his friends who (were) concerned about his level of stress and loss of sleep,” according to Stines’ medical records.

“The patient was very subdued, but denied any depression, anxiety, psychosis, suicidal or homicidal thoughts,” said the doctor’s notes.

However, the doctor diagnosed Stines with an “acute stress reaction,” according to his attorneys.

Jail examination says Stines was confused, but also violent

On its surface, the examination at the Leslie County Jail – where Stines was taken after the arrest because of his close connection to Letcher County jail staffers – paints a picture of him as being in a fog of confusion, unresponsiveness and paranoia. But it also says the suspect sometimes became so aggressive, he had to be subdued.

“He has had episodes of combativeness, which has required pepper spray,” the social worker wrote, noting he was being given an antipsychotic medication, risperidone. His defense team says the jail also gave Stines a second medication, quetiapine.

In part of a flurry of motions from both sides in the past week, Stines is asking for a judge to release him on bail. Kentucky’s constitution specifically allows suspects to be held without bail for a crime where the death penalty is on the table, but Stines’ defense team says the state is still required to prove at a hearing that there is enough evidence to presume Stines is guilty in order to keep him locked up.

Motive remains a mystery

Neither side has publicly discussed a motive for the shooting. Stines briefly left the courthouse after the shooting before turning around and voluntarily surrendering, Det. Clayton Stamper told the grand jury in November, a transcript of his testimony shows. Stines refused to talk to investigators, Stamper said.

During the preliminary hearing in the case, Stamper told a judge that the cell phone number of Stines’ teenage daughter had been found in the call records of Mullins’ own phone. But Stamper told the grand jury that they later determined that the call to the minor had been made by Stines using Mullins’ phone during their confrontation in the judge’s chambers just before the shooting.

Stines’ daughter denied having any contact with Mullins, and the investigator said they found no records of interaction between them by phone or social media.

Investigator told grand jury sheriff was sane

In response to a grand juror’s question, a Kentucky State Police detective who responded to the scene of the shooting last year testified that Stines was “in his sane mind” at the time of the shooting, an assertion Stines’ defense attorneys say should be grounds to get the case thrown out.

“Practically all the interviews call into question the Defendant’s mental status in the week preceding the shooting,” says the defense document.

Stines’ attorneys are also fighting to keep the case in Letcher County. Prosecutors say a fair trial would be impossible not only in this mountain community of fewer than 22,000 people, but also any other adjacent county because the suspect and victim were both well known.

Defense attorneys say moving the trial away from the mountains could expose Stines to a different kind of discrimination – against people from the poorest part of the state.

“Eastern Kentuckians are commonly viewed negatively in the remainder of the state,” Jeremy Bartley wrote.

The defense also says “60-70 potential witnesses” in the case live in Letcher County, a community that continues to be shocked and scarred by last September’s deadly violence in a building where the law is supposed to rule.

The-CNN-Wire
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