WHITESBURG, Ky. (WKYT) – Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines was arraigned in court Wednesday morning.
Stines pleaded not guilty to murdering District Judge Kevin Mullins. He appeared virtually in court from the Leslie County Jail in Hyden, which is about an hour away.
Stines is facing a charge of murder in last week’s shooting death of Judge Kevin Mullins.
The judge presiding over Sheriff Mickey Stines’s arraignment is actually a district court judge for Carter, Elliot, and Morgan counties. For context, defendants usually appear in front of their district’s judge, but for Sheriff Stines, that was Judge Kevin Mullins, the man he’s accused of killing.
Much of Wednesday’s arraignment focused on whether Stines qualifies to have a public defender appointed to him. Stines said he hadn’t hired an attorney or spoken to any about taking his case.
In a case like this, attorney costs could range in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The judge did approve of a public defender for the time being.
The judge said if the case proceeds to circuit court, Stines may be required to hire his own counsel.
A date for a preliminary hearing was set for Tuesday, October 1, at 1 p.m. at the Morgan County Judicial Center in West Liberty. The judge says Kentucky State Police will be responsible for transporting Stines to the hearing.
Copyright 2024 WKYT. All rights reserved.