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Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Shawn Mickey Stines

NEW (ordered Fri Oct 9): Kentucky Court of Appeals stays the order for a second mental-health exam Shawn “Mickey” Stines is the defendant in Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Shawn Mickey Stines, Letcher Circuit Court, indictment number 24-CR-00204. Special Judge Christopher T. Cohron’s August 11, 2026 order says the Commonwealth put in a video of Stines shooting and killing Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins in the judge’s chambers. The September 30, 2026 petition calls this a single count of murder and a capital prosecution. A defense motion to exclude the death penalty was held in abeyance. This filing does not state the calendar date of the shooting. On February 27, 2025, Stines gave notice that he intends to use expert evidence on criminal responsibility, guilt, and punishment. The Commonwealth had him examined by Dr. Tim Allen of the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center. That report is under seal. On December 3, 2025, the court denied a motion to unseal it. The order was entered December 4, 2025. The court heard pending motions on June 5, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. local time in the Leslie County District Courtroom. On August 11, 2026, Judge Cohron granted the Commonwealth a second mental-health examination, to be set at a place, date, and time the parties agree on. The defense may have its doctor present. The same order holds Stines without bail and grants a change of venue. It does not name the new trial county. The parties had 15 days from the order to ask for a trial location. A later scheduling order was to follow once the trial location and the exam date were set. This packet does not include that later order. A September 25, 2026 email from Assistant Attorney General R. Ramsey Dallam says Dr. George Parker will examine Stines at the Leslie County Detention Center on October 14, 2026, from about 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST. October 14, 2026 is a Wednesday. That email describes an examination at the jail, not a courtroom hearing. It does not give a hearing time because it is not a hearing. On September 30, 2026, lawyers Jeremy A. Bartley, Kerri N. Bartley, and James L. Cox filed a petition for a writ of prohibition and an emergency motion in the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The caption leaves the appeals number blank after 2026-OA-. They ask the appeals court to stop the October 14 examination. The clerk stamp is Cortney Shewmaker. This packet does not include a Court of Appeals ruling, so whether the exam still goes forward is not answered here. Prosecutors named in the papers are Jackie Steele, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 27th Judicial Circuit, and R. Ramsey Dallam, Assistant Attorney General. Judge Cohron is the special judge. His signature block says Special Judge, 47th Judicial Circuit. A distribution line also lists him as Circuit Judge, 8th Judicial Circuit, Division I.