Judge recommends no new trial for Patrick Baker after federal conviction, pardon by former governor

FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — A federal judge has recommended a Kentucky man should not get a new trial.

Patrick Baker, 46, was convicted of reckless homicide in Donald Mills’ death in state court in 2017 and sentenced to 19 years in prison, but former Gov. Matt Bevin pardoned him, releasing him and erasing the conviction.

Federal prosecutors charged him after he was released in 2019.

The Associated Press reported Baker’s family had political connections to Bevin, including hosting a fundraiser for the one-term governor.

A federal jury convicted Baker on a charge of murder committed during a drug trafficking crime, and he was sentenced in 2022 to 42 years in prison.

According to the Associated Press, federal prosecutors prosecuted Baker the second time under the “dual sovereignty doctrine,” allowing state and federal officials to prosecute the same defendant for the same actions without infringing on double jeopardy protections.

Baker’s attorneys argued his federal conviction and sentence should be set aside and he should get a new trial, because his attorneys in the 2021 federal trial didn’t do an effective job.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew A. Stinnett rejected the arguments in a decision released Thursday, saying he did not provide enough evidence to justify setting aside his conviction.

U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom will receive Stinnett’s recommendation and decide on whether to adopt it and deny Baker a new trial or not.