A Kentucky sheriff arrested and charged last week with shooting a judge in his chambers after an argument pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines was arraigned before a special judge on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins.
Stines appeared virtually from the Leslie County jail, where he has been held since Thursday’s shooting at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, about 217 miles southeast of Louisville.
He was appointed a temporary public defender during the brief arraignment hearing and is due back in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
A motive remains unclear. Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart has said preliminary information indicates that Stines “fatally shot Mullins following an argument inside the courthouse.”
Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times and died at the scene. Stines, 43, surrendered to authorities at the courthouse.
Three days before the deadly shooting, Stines was deposed for nearly four hours in connection with a 2022 federal lawsuit that listed him as a defendant, a lawyer for the plaintiff in the suit said Wednesday.
According to the suit, one of Stines’ deputies was accused of sexually abusing a woman in Mullins’ chambers.
In June 2021, the suit alleges, the deputy asked to meet the victim at the Letcher County courthouse “after dark” in the judge’s chambers “because there were no cameras.” The suit accuses Stines of failing to “adequately train and supervise” the deputy.
A lawyer representing Stines in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Judge Mullins was not accused of wrongdoing in the suit. Ned Pillersdorf, the attorney representing the woman who is suing Stines, said the courthouse had become a problem with women targeted for “sexual extortion.”
“We named [Stines] as a defendant under the theory that he knew, or should have known, that he had a deputy preying on all these vulnerable women,” Pillersdorf said. “We basically alleged that they turned that courthouse into a brothel.”
A 2022 filing in the case by Stines’ lawyer argued that Stines was immune from being sued over the allegations because of his position as an elected official and law enforcement officer.
Stines “at all times acted in good faith and exercised reasonable care and skill in effectuating his duties as required by law,” the filing says.
Matt Butler, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 47th Judicial Circuit in Letcher County, told NBC News that sometime after 2022, cameras were installed in the Mullins’ chambers and courtroom. He said it was unclear if it was a result of the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for the Kentucky State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about whether the agency is investigating a possible connection between the lawsuit and the shooting.
The shooting sent shock waves through the small community. Matt Butler, commonwealth’s attorney for Letcher County and Mullins’ brother-in-law, called it an “unspeakable tragedy” and said the community was “completely devastated.”
“I always thought he was hilarious. I always thought he was very witty. He was fun to be around outside of court,” Butler said in a video message.
The judge’s mother, Patsy Holbrook Mullins, told NBC News after his funeral service Sunday that she was “very impressed by the outpouring of support.”
Butler recused himself and his office from the case because of his personal relationship with the judge and because one of his staff members was in the judicial court suite at the time of the shooting. The case will be handled by Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and the commonwealth’s attorney for the 27th Judicial Circuit, Jackie Steele.
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