WHITESBURG, Ky. (Court TV) — Less than a month after his original request was denied, former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is fighting to have the judge removed from his case.
Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines walks into court on Nov. 25, 2024. (Court TV)
Stines, 44, is charged with murder in the shooting death of Letcher County Circuit Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, on Sept. 12, 2024. Stines has admitted to gunning down Mullins, who was also his friend, inside the judge’s chambers, but has filed documents indicating he plans to rely on a mental health defense. In those filings, Stines has claimed he lacked the ability to form the intent to kill when he pulled the trigger. Surveillance video showed the shooting play out in Mullins’ office, with the judge diving beneath a desk in an attempt to escape.
Stines previously requested that Judge Christopher Cohron recuse himself from the case, arguing that he couldn’t be impartial. Stines’ defense pointed to a video of a Sept. 12, 2024, meeting of the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health. There, just seven days before the shooting, Cohron and Mullins sat next to each other for the two-hour gathering.
In his order denying the initial request, Cohron conceded that the video showed him with the victim but denied any relationship that would cloud his judgment. “To be sure, Judge Mullins and I shared the legal profession and may, in that regard, be viewed as colleagues, but our nominal, purely professional association is not the degree of relationship which would interfere with my duty to uphold and apply the law and to perform judicial duties fairly and impartially or suggest an appearance of partiality,” Cohron wrote.
Now, Stines has filed an affidavit with the court, saying, in part, “It is my belief that I will not be afforded a fair and impartial trial or pretrial proceedings by Judge Cohron and seek the designation of a special judge pursuant to KRS 26A.020.”
The Kentucky law referenced in the affidavit allows for either party in a case to file an affidavit seeking a new judge if they feel they cannot get a fair trial.
Stines’ latest filing also notes that Mullins’ wife, now a widow, was in attendance at the meeting. “It is my belief that in addition to the meeting shown in the video, there was a companion social or dinner event connected to the meeting,” Stines wrote in his affidavit. “It is my belief that the trial of this matter will necessarily include evidence regarding the week’s events Mullins discussed in the video. As such, it is difficult to believe that Judge Cohron’s proximity with Mullins such a short time before the events at issue, will not affect his judgment in my case.”
Video of the meeting, which had previously been posted online, is no longer available to view.
