Mountain Top Media
Judge orders former sheriff to undergo psychiatric exam prior to murder trial
WHITESBURG, Ky. — A judge has ordered former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, after his attorney announced he would pursue an insanity defense in his upcoming murder trial.
Stines, 44, of McRoberts, is charged with capital murder for the Sept. 19 shooting death of Letcher District Judge Kevin Mullins while the two men talked in the judge’s chambers.
The shooting was captured on security cameras, leaving no doubt as to who pulled the trigger. But last month, Stines’ attorney asked to present “expert evidence relating to a mental disease or defect or mental condition bearing on the issue of guilt and punishment.”
In response, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman asked that Stines be transferred to the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in La Grange for examination.
On Friday, Special Judge Christopher Cohron granted that request, ordering Stines to be committed to KCPC for up to 30 days. During that time, a psychiatrist or psychologist will evaluate whether he “lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.”
A defense expert will be allowed to witness the evaluation.
Following the exam, Stines will be returned to the Leslie County Jail, where he has been kept since his arrest.
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Police ask for help locating missing Perry man
UPDATE: Kentucky State Police has announced that Whitaker has been found safe.
ORIGINAL STORY: HAZARD, Ky. — Police are asking for the public’s help locating a missing man.
Donald “Ryan” Whitaker, 38, of Hazard, was reported missing by his family on Thursday. He was last seen Thursday, March 6, in Hindman at the Knott County Central High School gymnasium, but associates say they had verbal communication with him until March 11.
Whitaker is described as 6 feet, 1 inch tall and 165 lbs., with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen waearing gray pants and a black shirt with gold sleeves and a Hazard High School logo on it. He was lsat known to be driving a maroon 2013 Nissan Maxima.
Anyone with information about Whitaker’s whereabouts is asked to contact Kentucky State Police Post 13 in Hazard at (606) 435-6069.
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