A court filing has revealed that Shawn Stines, the former Kentucky sheriff accused of murdering District Judge Kevin Mullins in his office, plans to present an insanity defense. While video footage exists of the moment Stines shot Mullins, there is no clear motive behind the alleged murder.
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The court filing, which was filed on February 27, 2025, details that the defendant, Shawn Stines, “intends to present expert evidence relating to a mental disease or defect or mental condition bearing on the issue of guilt and punishment.”
Moreover, the filing stated that Stines “intends to present a defense of insanity, as well as a defense of extreme emotional disturbance.” In a section titled “Support for Attendance of Expert,” the filing stated that Stines is entitled to expert participation should “the Commonwealth elects to request an examination” for both “incompetency to stand trial” and “insanity.”
As per the Daily Mail, Stines’s defense had hinted before that they planned to plead not guilty on the grounds of insanity. However, a “extreme emotional disturbance” could possibly give way to an explanation behind Stines’s state of mind…