Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Bombshell Twist in Judge Killed in Chambers 'Sex Scandal' Case

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Mickey Stines was in "active psychosis" in the days after he shot and killed his longtime friend and colleague, Judge Kevin Mullins, in September 2024, according to new court documents. Stines' lawyer revealed the new information in a brief to support his motion to dismiss the murder charge. Prosecutors oppose the motion and want the trial for Stines moved out of Letcher County. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes over the new information about Stines' mental health in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code CRIMEFIX at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/crimefixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Dave Aronberg https://x.com/aronbergProducer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Look, it is recording. That was then Sheriff, Mickey Stein's in custody after he'd shot and killed Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers. Now we're learning new details about. about Stein's paranoia and possible mental health issues as his lawyer tries to get the case against him dismissed. I know how that works the camera stuff. Take me downstairs. Y'all interview me.

I'll tell you the whole story downstairs. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Annionette Levy. Mickey Steins faces a murder charge for the shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers, nearly a year ago in Letcher County, Kentucky. There's no denying that Mickey Steins shot his friend of many years. It's all on camera, recorded by a surveillance system in the judge's chambers that's part of the courthouse. What's in dispute is Steins' level of legal culpability.

He's pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, and his lawyers have contended from the very beginning that Steins was experiencing an extreme emotional disturbance that may make him guilty of manslaughter instead of murder. But right now, Steins' lawyer is trying to get the indictment charging Steins with murder thrown out. Jeremy Bartley maintains that prosecutors with the Commonwealth of Kentucky didn't give the grand jury all of the facts about Stein's mental health when grand jurors asked about it.

I spoke with Bartley back in March about why he believes that Stein shot Mullins in the first place. Yeah, he felt that his wife and daughter have been taken. And, you know, I think that, You know, there's a lot out there that touches on what was actually going on behind the scenes. We look at the Ben Field's deposition, the deputy that was convicted of having coercive sex with, you know, someone who was on probation and or on an ankle monitor at the time in the judge's chambers. We've got a video. I mean, if we take a step back here, we're talking about a lot.

live feed in the judge's office. That's unheard of. I can speak, I can't speak for the rest of the country, but I can speak for Kentucky. I've been in a lot of judges chambers. I've seen a lot of cameras, but I've never seen one that was a live feed, basically a security camera. I understand that camera went up after this prosecution of Benfield's in the civil suit. So we know in those chambers, there was things going on that shouldn't have been going on. And we believe that there were folks that didn't want it being told in this deposition what was going on in there before they put cameras up. And I believe that there is a history that would show us that there is a reasonable belief

that, you know, that he was in danger, his family was in danger, depending on, what he said in this deposition. Now, again, we think that was exacerbated by his mental health, or conversely, these threats impacted his mental health. But the bottom line is that Mickey felt that there was a threat to his wife and daughter and that it was imminent. I cover a lot of pretty scary stories here on Crime Fix. And if it's taught me anything, it's that privacy and personal safety absolutely cannot be compromised, especially when it comes to your personal info, online. You would be absolutely shocked at how much of your data, like your name, phone number, and even home address is just floating around the internet for data brokers to find and sell.

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All you need to do is copy and paste the links to sites where you've noticed concerning data breaches cropping up and creating issues in your life and a team of privacy specialists will take care of the rest. The new Incogni unlimited feature even allows users to customize their data removals and tackle the toughest of breaches with the help of a team of privacy specialists. So if you care about your online safety, and you should, take your personal data back with Incogni, use code crime fix below on the screen and get 60% off an annual plan. Now, since that time, Bartley has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment and the Commonwealth is asking to move the trial out of Letcher County arguing that both sides, including the prosecution, are entitled to a fair trial.

Prosecutors don't believe that can happen in Letcher County. Pretty interesting because you don't often hear of prosecutors asking for a change of venue, but I have seen it happen in a couple of other cases, although it's rare that it actually moves the trial that a judge grants that request. But back to the motion to dismiss, Bartley filed a brief to support his motion. It's now under seal, but some outlets, got it before that happened so we can tell you what's in it. Bartley is accusing the lead detective, Clayton Stamper, of making false statements to the grand jury. On November 21st, 2024, Bartley wrote that Stamper testified in front of the grand jury, and despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Detective Stamper and the Commonwealth put on testimony that the investigation showed defendant was in his sane mind. Bartley goes on to write that Stamper knew full well, that there were concerns about Steins' mental health in the days leading up to the shooting and that Steins had been diagnosed with acute stress reaction.

A grand juror had asked whether there was any record of psychosis, hallucination, depression, or mental health issues with Steins. Bartley writes, however, the Commonwealth and its witness do not disclose that the same records from the day before the shooting, his doctor diagnosed an acute stress reaction. Another juror asks, so Dr. McDougal, said pretty much there's no mental health issues, but was there any major physical health issues that he was struggling with that might have affected his mental health?

The witnesses answer, no, not that I'm aware of. Bartley writes that Stamper also didn't tell the grand jurors about mental health symptoms Steins was exhibiting following his arrest. The brief states, the Commonwealth's witness failed to note the mental health evaluations that were initiated by the government vis-a-vis the jail. These examinations were, were conducted at Kentucky River Community Care on September 20th, 2024, September 23rd, 2024, and September 24th, 2024.

Those evaluations included observations of active psychosis. He had been given respiradol and syracquel by the jail prior to the exams, as noted in the medical record. Now, in fairness, the Commonwealth will say that these are trial issues. Here's one of the special prosecutors at a hearing last month. Your Honor, I think defense counsel is conflating the role of a grand jury proceeding with the role of a criminal trial. It is very clear under the law that they are distinctly different proceedings.

The grand jury is an investigative body. The Commonwealth has no obligation as it's reflected in an abundance of case law to come in, to present exculpatory evidence, and to attempt to amount a defense for the defendant. Now, we are now seeing more of Mickey Stein's bizarre behavior after the shooting. We already knew that he was paranoid. We've seen body camera footage of that before,

but now we're seeing more of it. We go out of the side of all. Take me to the jail now, guys. To the jail? Yeah, security. Yeah, security. I'm going to be on camera and stuff all the time. Yeah.

Yeah, take me to the jail. Come on, go on. Come here, me. Listen, I know how that works out of the camera, man, all the time. I know, but I know how that works the camera stuff. Take me downstairs. Y'all have interviewed me. I'll tell you the whole story downstairs.

Okay, well, we're just trying to figure out what the business. We can go right through that way right down at the jail. And that may very well be what we did. I don't know. We'll see it. We're not going to do this. We're not going to figure out who's working at that. And that's going on the time.

Okay. Glad I'm doing it. I won't be downstairs in the camera now, guys. Come on. I'll go ahead. We just got to wait on the detective that's going to be working this. Steins was afraid to go to the jail. Oh, now, come on, guys. Oh, come on, my sticking, nothing? There's two body cams, right?

He's all reported and there's an additional recorder. That will be, look, show you this, right? Look. Come on now, guys. No, look. We've known each other a long time. Look, it is recording. That one's recording.

Clayton has a backup recorder running. Come on, guys. What do you think? We can't talk in the hallway of the courthouse. Yeah, there's people here. I mean, there's people in that room. There's people in that room. We can't do that.

So what's the problem? I'll get another one. I'll put one on me. You won't take it. Let me, okay? But I can't be in the room. Come on. Is there somebody that you trust other than us

that you would prefer? to be with us. Mickey, I don't know these are our whole lives. I'm not really having to do it. I have no reason. Come on now, guys. Mickey, you have to go. You have to be moved at some point.

We've got two body cams around. We're not so many, thank you. Would you have a try? Would you talk to us in the jail down there? Do you feel safe down there because there's cameras everywhere? Are you going to move me after the interview? I'm not trying to dictate out of those guys. I don't know how this works.

I'm not going to feel safe in a room here, but we're not going to hurt you me. Just like Anthony, I've known you for 20 years. We're not going to hurt you. That's why we have two body cams and a, And there's a reporter run, Bub, I promise you. I ain't got nothing. I know that, but that ain't what we're worried about, but we just can't talk in the hallway of the courthouse.

Plus, there's people looking. We need to go somewhere out of here. Pull my pockets inside out. Is that it ain't that? No, no, pull my pockets inside out. Now, guys, y'all don't do me this way. Now, of course, in the background of all of this, was a civil suit involving a deputy under Stein's having sex with an inmate

in Judge Mullins's chambers and rumors that Judge Mullins was running a scheme to get favors from women who were incarcerated in exchange for sex. I want to bring in Dave Aaronberg. He is the former state attorney in Palm Beach County, also currently a defense attorney. Dave, this case is a crazy case because we literally have a shooting on camera. We have a homicide taking place on camera, a sheriff killing a judge who was his friend. In the background, we have all of this chatter about a sex for favors sex ring, allegedly run by the judge. Now we have these new documents coming out, though, saying it's kind of letting some credence to the defense that he may, Mickey Steins may have been under some duress, some emotional disturbance. So what do you think as you look through these documents that they're saying that the lead detective didn't tell the grand jury the whole truth about, you know, this diagnosis that Mickey Steins had? Yes, this is their way, meaning the defense's way of trying to get the charges drop by saying that the witness, the key witness before the grand jury lied to the grand jury. It's not an unusual argument. This actually happens more than than you'd like to.

to believe because the defense is always trying to get that edge and trying to get the charges dismissed because a grand jury's burden is just to find that there's probable cause. It's a low burden, and then you get an indictment. So here's their way of trying to get the charges dismissed before it even gets to trial, and I don't think it's going to succeed. You have to show that there is a willful lie here, something intentional, a deception before the grand jury, and sometimes investigators just have a different opinion. about someone's mental health.

The investigator is not an expert in mental health. And so to say that he's just lying about it, that's maybe a bit of a reach. Now, as far as the fact that this defendant may have some real issues, that will play in the trial, but I don't think it's going to get the grand jury indictment dismissed. No, I don't think it's going to get the grand jury indictment dismissed. but I think that the Bartley's, the defense team, would be remiss if they didn't at least try based on this information.

No, I agree. And it is telling that you have this battle of paperwork in advance. It shows you that this case has reached the public's consciousness where you have the prosecution seeking a change in venue. And you have the defense saying that it's our client who has a severe mental, disturbance cause essentially by what he knew about this judge. And so this is a combustible situation. I do think that there is a need to get at least a jury from a different jurisdiction, perhaps the case moved. I do not see this case getting dismissed before trial. And so this is going to be must-see TV if and when it does go to a trial. Yeah, definitely. How unusual is it in your

experience for the Commonwealth, the state side, to ask for a change of venue? It is unusual, but it's not unheard of because the state has a right to a fair trial, too. I know the Sixth Amendment applies to defendants, and in fact, the Constitution of the United States says nothing about victims. It says a lot about defendants and suspects, but the state does have also right to have a fair trial, and that means that if there's a jury out there that cannot be fair that is swayed by emotion, by sympathy, rather than following the evidence and the facts and the law, then you've got to find another jury. You can bring another jury from a different part of the state, or you can move the case entirely. It's not unheard of,

but it is rare that it is the state seeking it, which tells you about all the information that's been out there and all the rumors and everything that people have been talking about, about the victim being involved in this pay for sex, pay for a play, sex ring. That's the kind of thing that could lead to what's called jury nullification, which is a prosecutor's worst nightmare, which means that the jury sees the evidence, sees the law, and disregards it because they just don't like the victim. Right. And I think that could be a concern here.

I mean, obviously the Bartleys want to keep this trial in Letcher County because of all of the, you know, goodwill, I guess, that Sheriff Steins, Mickey Steins, he's not the sheriff anymore, but he has a lot of support in Letcher County. So they want a Letcher County and it's a small town. They don't want a Letcher County jury and it's a small town. However, the Commonwealth's like, there's just been too much media attention on this. We need to move this. But the defense is saying, this is a national story. You're not going to take the media attention away, whether you move it, you know, to one county or another. That's something that's changed in recent years.

It used to be before the advent of streaming and social media that if you had a case that was a big deal in a certain jurisdiction, you can easily move it to another jurisdiction and escape all that publicity. But now we're all on the same networks. We all watch the same news from, or at least the same social media sites. And so everyone knows about everything pretty much. A case like this would be something that would be known throughout the state of Kentucky, not just that one part of eastern Kentucky.

With that said, it's still different. I mean, remember in Idaho, they moved the Coburger case because even though everyone knew about it, they still felt that having a jury in that small town of Moscow, Idaho was prejudicial to the defense. Here, the state is saying that because of sympathy for, the defendant. He was well-liked because of dislike of the victim. You've got to move it to a different area. Even if the people in the other area know about the case, it's still not the same. They don't know the parties personally. So I think the state has a legitimate argument to at least get a jury shipped in from a different part of the state. They may. And it sounds like,

you know, there are some rumblings down there that this is going to move. And so if you put this case in front of another jury, you know, the defense strategy seems here, Dave, to be all about getting a manslaughter conviction rather than a murder conviction, you know, because of the extreme emotional disturbance. That's the strategy. They've basically said that. But you might be more apt to get that in Letcher County than, say, another county like Bowling Green or some other, you know, some other area where there isn't as much known about the background of this case and what could have been potentially going on in the background, especially with the civil lawsuit about the sex for favors and things of that nature. So you may put this case in front

of a jury who's like, I don't, I don't care about all of that. You literally took out a gun and shot your friend, the judge, in cold blood, and then went after him, followed him as he tried to crouch around his desk. So that's going to show whether he was, whether he had some mental health issues going or not, you know, the prosecution, the Commonwealth is going to say, that's a cold blood of killing. Yeah, I actually think the defense is going to try to get an acquittal because of jury nullification. I think they're going to focus on what the victim was supposedly, doing and outrage at least one of the jurors, and that's all it takes for a hung jury,

and you outrage them all, and you get sympathy for the defendant, and then it's game over. It's an acquittal. So if you just base it on the video alone, there's enough evidence, I think, for a murder conviction there, or at least manslaughter. But you're right. I think the baseline here is to at least get a manslaughter, which means he'll see the light of day outside of a prison again, even if he's convicted. but I think they're going to go for it all.

They already are in trying to dismiss the indictment altogether. But that video is so powerful that unless you engage in jury nullification, I think that video means he's going to be convicted of at least manslaughter, if not murder. Yeah. It's really something else. This case is something, and there's something going on down there, and there was definitely something going on with Mickey Steins. So we're going to keep an eye on it. Dave Arrenberg, thank you for your time as usual.

Thank you, Anthony. Now, of course, the judge has not yet ruled on these motions to dismiss the indictment or the change of venue motion. We'll just have to wait and see what happens with both of those, but the defense wants that case to stay there in Letcher County. And we're going to keep an eye on all of this. A trial date has not yet been set. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for joining me for this episode of Crime Fix. I'll see you back here next time.

Thank you.