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Kentucky Sheriff fatally shoots District Judge inside Kentucky Courtroom

If anyone's interested in the geography, Letcher County is in the far South-Eastern edge of Kentucky, on the border with Virginia. It's adjacent to Harlan County, which is the setting for much of the TV series Justified.
 
If anyone's interested in the geography, Letcher County is in the far South-Eastern edge of Kentucky, on the border with Virginia. It's adjacent to Harlan County, which is the setting for much of the TV series Justified.

CALLED IT!
 
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So he wants a public defender, pleading not guilty after shooting the judge a few feet away from a variety of witnesses including cops and court officers, and came out with his hands up with a recently ventilated judge behind him and his gun presumably still warm.

Is he going to suggest the judge committed suicide? He accidentally backed up into a bunch of bullets that were hanging innocently in mid-air?
 
Meh, the default is to always plead not guilty. See what the prosecution's plans are and see what you can get for a plea deal. I'd bet with his history as a LEO, no priors, and whatever story he's spun that he'll get in the neighborhood of 20 years and be out in 15.

I'm assuming he'll use heat of the moment as an excuse. Maybe he just heard some fresh news that the judge was having relations with his daughter, maybe that it was just confirmed. There wasn't an argument so whatever happened it was decided on the spot or shortly before. I don't know if he'll get a premeditated charge to stick.
 
The sherriff was deposed in the judges-chambers-rape case just a couple days before. Coincidence, maybe, but it's the only thing we know of that might have the impetus to make someone commit a murder and throw his life away.

In the rape case, there were originally two claimants. One is dead now, but no reporting that I saw on exactly how she died. I mean, there's a very dark narrative running around in there if you are sinister minded.
 
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So he wants a public defender, pleading not guilty after shooting the judge a few feet away from a variety of witnesses including cops and court officers, and came out with his hands up with a recently ventilated judge behind him and his gun presumably still warm.

Is he going to suggest the judge committed suicide? He accidentally backed up into a bunch of bullets that were hanging innocently in mid-air?

He has a right to plead not guilty and if he cannot afford an attorney he has a right to a public defender. Just like anyone else.

He may be planning to plea not-guilty for reasons of temporary insanity, or even the Twinky defense (a case not without similarities)
 
The sherriff was deposed in the judges-chambers-rape case just a couple days before. Coincidence, maybe, but it's the only thing we know of that might have the impetus to make someone commit a murder and throw his life away.

In the rape case, there were originally two claimants. One is dead now, but no reporting that I saw on exactly how she died. I mean, there's a very dark narrative running around in there if you are sinister minded.

The sheriff was the Judge's balif until he became sheriff, then he was replaced by the deputy who plead guilty to the rapes.

At the time of the rapes the rapist was the Judge's balif, and the rapes were coercive (has sex or I'll report your parole violations).

Sounds like a typical American small town.
 
He has a right to plead not guilty and if he cannot afford an attorney he has a right to a public defender. Just like anyone else.

Obviously. Considering his particular style, just surprising.

He may be planning to plea not-guilty for reasons of temporary insanity, or even the Twinky defense (a case not without similarities)

Yeah or he might claim demonic possession, with the same likelihood of success.
 
The sheriff was the Judge's balif until he became sheriff, then he was replaced by the deputy who plead guilty to the rapes.

At the time of the rapes the rapist was the Judge's balif, and the rapes were coercive (has sex or I'll report your parole violations).

Yes. Yes that is the reporting. Except that it was primarily about paying for an ankle monitor, that kept her on house arrest rather than going back in lockup. Which to my mind, is much worse than a quid pro quo kind of gig.

Sounds like a typical American small town.

Mine was certainly more fun and didn't often end in repeated rape under threat of imprisonment or a hail of bullets.
 
A bit more context to the story:

Police say Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines dialed his daughter’s number from District Judge Kevin Mullins’ phone, then pulled his gun and shot Mullins repeatedly inside his own chambers in the city of Whitesburg on Sept. 19.

...

Graphic video played at the hearing appears to show Stines, a hulking man who stands 6’4” and weighs more than 300 pounds, firing on Mullins as he sits at his desk with his left hand up. After Mullins collapses to the floor, Stines is seen leaning over the desk to fire again. As Stines prepares to leave, the video shows him closing in from another angle, firing his final shots from about two feet away.

...

Det. Clayton Stamper, the chief investigator, said the full video showed Stines trying to call his daughter from his phone and then from the judge’s phone. After that, the sheriff opened fire.Source

Looks like no known motive but I'd imagine seeing his number in the judges phone with maybe a call history that pops up (Mine does that with a Pixel 7 Pro, and I'm assuming it does it with iPhone but who knows with Apple) and that caused him to fly off the handle.
 
A bit more context to the story:



Looks like no known motive but I'd imagine seeing his number in the judges phone with maybe a call history that pops up (Mine does that with a Pixel 7 Pro, and I'm assuming it does it with iPhone but who knows with Apple) and that caused him to fly off the handle.

Calling the daughter from both phones immediately prior to the execution? Man, that fits in awfully well with the judge banging the girl rumor.

As in, the sherrif already knew it was on the judges phone and the sherrif wanted her to know what was going to happen, so tried to call her.
 
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Calling the daughter from both phones immediately prior to the execution? Man, that fits in awfully well with the judge banging the girl rumor.

As in, the sherrif already knew it was on the judges phone and the sherrif wanted her to know what was going to happen, so tried to call her.

Yeah, the daughter was in the courtroom per the article too. I wonder how she feels about the whole thing.

ETA: Same source...

Stamper also testified that as he was taken into custody, Stines told officers, “They are trying to kidnap my wife and kid.”

Stamper didn’t elaborate on just what the sheriff might have meant. He did say, though, that he had heard the judge and sheriff were at odds over a recent lawsuit.

Sleeping with the daughter or maybe trying to take her from the parents?
 
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Yeah, the daughter was in the courtroom per the article too. I wonder how she feels about the whole thing.

ETA: Same source...



Sleeping with the daughter or maybe trying to take her from the parents?

Damn. I wonder if the recent lawsuit was the rape one that the sherriff was just deposed on? Maybe he got the idea that the judge was going to throw him.under the bus and he'd lose his family? This is super weird all over.
 
Yeah, the daughter was in the courtroom per the article too. I wonder how she feels about the whole thing.

ETA: Same source...



Sleeping with the daughter or maybe trying to take her from the parents?

Or the sheriff was abusive to his family and the judge was trying to help them get away? Too many ways to read this without more info.
 
Wait... where did they get this video? There were no cameras in the judges chambers. Was Stines recording it on his phone?
 
Is he going to suggest the judge committed suicide? He accidentally backed up into a bunch of bullets that were hanging innocently in mid-air?

Doubtful. But he could very well be hoping for a lenient plea deal, or even jury nullification. A jury could be quite sympathetic to someone who killed their daughter's rapist.

If I was a prosecutor and found out the victim had raped the accused's daughter, I would seriously consider the risk of jury nullification when negotiating for a plea deal.
 
Doubtful. But he could very well be hoping for a lenient plea deal, or even jury nullification. A jury could be quite sympathetic to someone who killed their daughter's rapist.

If I was a prosecutor and found out the victim had raped the accused's daughter, I would seriously consider the risk of jury nullification when negotiating for a plea deal.

Right, but it's more the argument of under what legal theory he was not guilty that I'd like to hear. Rolling dice on a jury's take is one thing, but I'd sure like to hear it said out loud that didn't amount to "ok I'm guilty, but come on guys".
 
Right, but it's more the argument of under what legal theory he was not guilty that I'd like to hear. Rolling dice on a jury's take is one thing, but I'd sure like to hear it said out loud that didn't amount to "ok I'm guilty, but come on guys".

I doubt we'll hear much until either a plea bargain or the trial, and I'm not really sure what good a trial would really do. Like Zigg said the prosecution could be concerned about jury nullification but this is pretty obviously open and shut. There's video of him shooting the judge and he admitted to it saying the reason was because they were trying to take his wife and daughter. Even a sympathetic jury would find him guilty of manslaughter or, more likely, whatever their version of non-premeditated murder is in **** hole USA.
 
I doubt we'll hear much until either a plea bargain or the trial, and I'm not really sure what good a trial would really do. Like Zigg said the prosecution could be concerned about jury nullification but this is pretty obviously open and shut. There's video of him shooting the judge and he admitted to it saying the reason was because they were trying to take his wife and daughter. Even a sympathetic jury would find him guilty of manslaughter or, more likely, whatever their version of non-premeditated murder is in **** hole USA.

Unless some outrageous new evidence comes up, the best he could hope for is an insanity plea for thinking that a judge was going to kidnap his family so he had to be executed on the spot instead of say,... arresting him?

Speaking of law enforcement, I can't picture a jury nullifying a sworn law enforcement officer for going rouge and carrying out his own executions. Like, no way in hell.
 
Sleeping with the daughter or maybe trying to take her from the parents?

Parents who lose custody of their children by way of court order usually describe the situation as the state agency or court "kidnapping" their child - almost invariably, it seems. But why include his wife in that complaint? Maybe she was in legal trouble as well.

The sheriff only tried to call his daughter from the judge's phone after he tried to call her from his own phone and she didn't answer. The sheriff thought she might answer the judge's phone, so I suppose that at least leaves open the possibility that he thought the judge was somehow involved with his daughter. But, importantly, the daughter didn't answer the judge's phone either, which suggests that wasn't true. It's very hard to convince a suspicious person that they're wrong, though; and impossible to convince an outright delusional person.

If it's true that the daughter was at the courthouse, I think the reason why she was there is going to be the linchpin to the case. If she was supposed to be there for a custody hearing or similar, you have your motive.

Alternative fanciful speculation: The sheriff has completely lost his mind and literally believes the judge is a conspirator in a massive plot to kidnap his wife and daughter. He brings his daughter to the courthouse with him because he doesn't feel it's safe to leave her alone at home, but has her wait in the lobby while he goes to confront the judge in case things turn violent. During the confrontation he tries to call her, and she doesn't answer because she's in the restroom or at the vending machines or talking on the phone already with a friend, and when he can't get through on either his own or the judge's phone, the sheriff believes that the kidnappers must have gotten to his daughter after all and he murders the judge.
 
Unless some outrageous new evidence comes up, the best he could hope for is an insanity plea for thinking that a judge was going to kidnap his family so he had to be executed on the spot instead of say,... arresting him?

Speaking of law enforcement, I can't picture a jury nullifying a sworn law enforcement officer for going rouge and carrying out his own executions. Like, no way in hell.

That would also be a steep uphill battle to get declared temporarily insane. I'm a bit foggy on my memory now but I seem to remember you have to be diagnosed by an actual psychiatrist to show insanity. It has to be to the point where you were so insane that you couldn't tell right from wrong in the moment.

Interesting to see the future though.
 
That would also be a steep uphill battle to get declared temporarily insane. I'm a bit foggy on my memory now but I seem to remember you have to be diagnosed by an actual psychiatrist to show insanity. It has to be to the point where you were so insane that you couldn't tell right from wrong in the moment.

Interesting to see the future though.

There's really only two options here though, no matter how the facts pan out: murder 1 (he walked up and put an additional two rounds into the unarmed judge from 2 feet away), or stone cold whacka doozy.
 
There's video of him shooting the judge and he admitted to it saying the reason was because they were trying to take his wife and daughter.

If you can't bear the thought of being separated from your wife and daughter, getting jailed for murder doesn't seem like a brilliant plan.

On the other hand if you can't bear the thought of losing to another man then it fixes the immediate problem, even if it leaves your family somewhat in the lurch.

If this was a tv show then I guess the judge was banging the sheriff's wife, and she just told the sheriff she was leaving him for the judge, expecting to keep custody of the daughter.
 
I doubt we'll hear much until either a plea bargain or the trial, and I'm not really sure what good a trial would really do. Like Zigg said the prosecution could be concerned about jury nullification but this is pretty obviously open and shut. There's video of him shooting the judge and he admitted to it saying the reason was because they were trying to take his wife and daughter. Even a sympathetic jury would find him guilty of manslaughter or, more likely, whatever their version of non-premeditated murder is in **** hole USA.

I'm guessing the wife and daughter are wanting a full trial so the truth comes out.

My take on this so far is the sherrif is an abusive father and husband who could hide behind his veneer of authority.
 
I'm guessing the wife and daughter are wanting a full trial so the truth comes out.



My take on this so far is the sherrif is an abusive father and husband who could hide behind his veneer of authority.
Yeah, that's the other version of the story where the judge was going to take the sheriff's family away legally, in his official capacity. I now await being led to believe it's one version, then the other, before the final shock reveal it was both.
 
The part I'm having problems with is dialing his daughters' number from the judge's cell phone was the obvious trigger. So what did dialing the number show him that made him fly off the handle? One thing to support the "sleeping with the daughter" theory is that he had her named something...off in his phone. Something like "my little guilty verdict" or whatever judges name their side piece, and that caused the switch to flip.
 
The sheriff only tried to call his daughter from the judge's phone after he tried to call her from his own phone and she didn't answer. The sheriff thought she might answer the judge's phone, so I suppose that at least leaves open the possibility that he thought the judge was somehow involved with his daughter.

Yeah maybe it's as simple as him being shocked the daughters' number was in his phone at all. Probably more shocked if there was a call history attached to it. I'm sure the sheriff was expecting his daughter to answer an unknown number to her, but then found otherwise.
 
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