Months of work ahead in former Letcher Co. sheriff murder case

LETCHER COUNTY, Ky. (WJHL) — The sheer amount of information and evidence in the case of the former Letcher County sheriff accused of shooting and killing a judge in his chambers will take months to go through, according to court documents.

A court order filed in Letcher County Circuit Court on Monday addresses a status hearing for the case of the Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Shawn M. Stines.

Stines, the former sheriff of Letcher County, has been charged with first-degree murder and murder of a public official in the September 2024 shooting death of district judge Kevin Mullins. Stines has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

According to the court order, a Jan. 17 status hearing addressed five issues in the case.

The first was the amount of discovery, the information shared between parties prior to the start of the trial. The discovery phase includes the disclosure of evidence and witnesses, as well as other information.

The order states that prosecutors have provided “a substantial amount of discovery” to Stines’ legal team.

“The Commonwealth estimated that all pending discovery should be available to the Defendant in approximately 4-6 months,” the order states.

The second issue covered at the status hearing was an ex parte motion for funds by the defense, which occurs when one of the parties asks the court for money to pay for some service in the trial — often expert witnesses. Ex parte motions are filed without the other party being informed; however, it was addressed in the hearing and the Commonwealth was made aware.

The court will set a hearing for the motion for funds, and the defense will be required to provide Stines’ financial information before then.

The Jan. 17 hearing also addressed the issue of criminal responsibility after Stines’ legal team requested that a retained defense expert be present during any evaluations of Stines.

The court ordered that Stines file a written notice on the matter and officially request the presence of a defense expert during evaluations. Prosecutors will then file their response to the request.

Fourth, Stines’ defense brought back up the matter of a future bond hearing. He had previously been denied bond, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele, the prosecutor for the 27th Judicial District, told News Channel 11 that it was common for someone with Stines’ charges to not be granted a bond.

The defense can file a motion to amend Stines’ bond, and prosecutors will have 14 days to respond in writing.

The last topic covered was scheduling. Special Judge Christopher T. Cohron will set a date to hear arguments on pending issues once pleadings have been filed.

The entire court order can be read below: