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.
