Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Former Kentucky Sheriff Indicted in Judge's Murder

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Former Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines entered a not guilty plea Monday to a murder of a public official charge. A security camera recorded Stines shooting his longtime friend, Judge Kevin Mullins, last September. Questions surround a possible motive in the case. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy looks at the latest details in the case and talks with Stines' attorneys in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lccrimefix and access information about almost anyone!Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME 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/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. The sheriff charged with murdering his friend who's a judge appears in court to enter a plea to the charge. I have new information in the case of the former sheriff, Mickey Steins, and where the case goes from here. Welcome to Crime Fix.

I'm Anjanette Levy. Mickey Steins made international news when he was arrested and charged with murdering his friend of many years, Judge Kevin Mullins. Now Steins has been indicted for murder of a public official and he's entered a plea. I'll show you that hearing in just a bit. This case is not a whodunit, far from it. It's more of a why did he do it? And is the crime murder or something else? Steins shot and killed Judge Mullins on September 19th, and the crime was captured by security cameras. The case is absolutely unbelievable because Steins, the well-liked now former Letcher County Sheriff, who's supposed to enforce the law,

is accused of breaking it, committing the most serious crime you can in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. That day, Steins and Mullins went to lunch together. It was something that they had done together many, many times over the years. Steins and Mullins were longtime friends. At one time, Steins had worked as Mullins' bailiff. The lunch came up at a preliminary hearing in October. Are you aware of anything so far in your investigation that would tell us there was any issues at lunch between Judge Collins and Sheriff Stines? No. Someone on behalf of the KSP has spoken to those witnesses?

Yes, they've all been interviewed. And there was nothing unusual that had arisen during that luncheon? I was told that the judge made a statement to Mickey about, do we need to meet private in my chambers? That's all I was told. Do you know the context of what the conversation was before that they would need to discuss in chambers? I do not.

The prosecution played the video of Stein shooting Mullins. And were you able to identify the party that you saw in that video? That was Sheriff Mickey Steins and Judge Kevin Mullins. And also, who had your firearm? Sheriff Steins. And then Judge was obviously in his black robe. Yes. Do you know what portion of the courthouse that is?

That is the judge's chambers. And where is that located at, physically located? In the Letcher County Courthouse. Now, there was no audio of the video, so we don't know what was said before Steins fired. And have you had an opportunity to review the video? I have. Of the prior incident? I have. And can you describe for us what happened immediately prior to the clip that we saw? Sheriff Steins

uses his telephone to make some phone calls. He then borrows Judge Mullen's cell phone and appears to make a call on that. And that led to what you just saw. Mickey Steins was the sheriff of Letcher County, so he's not the type of person that you would think would be charged with the crime. I decided to look up Sheriff Steins on Truthfinder.com to see what I would find out about him. Truthfinder is one of the largest public record search services out there. I put in Steins' name and he appeared, including the fact that he worked at the Letcher County Sheriff's Office. No surprise there. The murder charge he faces doesn't yet appear, but that's still pretty new, so it shouldn't

take long for it to pop up. Truthfinder will also give you past and current addresses of the people you search, along with social media accounts, possible relatives and phone numbers. And another great thing that I love, Truthfinder will show you the addresses of sex offenders who live near you. You should give it a try. And I have a great deal for you. You can get 50 percent off of confidential background reports, just log on to www.truthfinder.com slash lccrimefix and start accessing information about almost anyone. The call placed by Steins has been the topic of much conversation and speculation. I was told that Sheriff Steins had tried to call his daughter and he had tried to call his daughter from the judge's phone also so have you obtained the phone records from Judge Mullins' phone?

I don't have those in my possession yet. Have you issued a search warrant for them? Yes. Okay and have officers confirmed that the sheriff's daughter's phone number was on Judge Mullins' phone? Yes. I think so. Yes. That number had been called from Judge Mullins' phone. Yes. That's correct? Yes. Now, there have been questions about whether the phone number of Sheriff Steins' daughter was actually saved in Judge Mullins' phone.

A Kentucky State Police spokesperson told me recently that Steins' daughter's phone number was not stored in Judge Mullins' phone. So Mickey Steins actually had to dial that phone number. Also adding to the mystery, what Mickey Steins said to law enforcement when they took him into custody. He was mostly calm, I thought. I mean, I talked to him, but he didn't say nothing about why this had happened. But he was calm. He was kind of afraid that basically all he said was treat me fair. That's basically the comments he made. Did he also make a statement about I didn't see it in the citation

somewhere along the line I saw a statement being attributed to him about protecting his family. He was, I wasn't present, but when he, when he was taken into custody, I was told by one of the other officers that were there that he made the comment, they're trying to kidnap my wife and kid. That was a stunning comment and it had people wondering what could have been going on in this small town.

Kentucky State Police tell me they're investigating every possibility. In the background of this case is a civil lawsuit. Sheriff Steins had been deposed in that suit days earlier. One of his former deputies, Ben Fields, was convicted of raping and sodomizing a former inmate named Sabrina Atkins in Judge Mullins' chambers, where there weren't any cameras present when it happened in 2021. Atkins' suit accuses Sheriff Steins of ignoring the behavior. Steins' lawyers had previously told me that their client was receiving an outpouring of support from the community. What I am amazed by are the stories of Sheriff Stein's transporting juveniles and stopping at the McDonald's drive-thru to get them food and to take care of people who were, you know, who were having

difficulties in getting food and taking it to their house. I've heard from drug addicts and recovering addicts who attribute their sobriety and their success in life to Sheriff Stein's efforts. Now, that is important to us because, again, there is something, and we want to know what, and we're continuing to do our own investigation. But ultimately, the Commonwealth has to give us the information to understand what would make this man, who has served so honorably in his community, to get to the point where he felt the only thing he could do to protect his wife and daughter is to take action on his own. Now to today's arraignment and Sheriff Stein's entering a not guilty plea to the charges.

The former law enforcement officer walked into court in a gray jail jumpsuit, handcuffed. We'll wait before we're reading and enter a not guilty plea at this time, Judge. And you're satisfied that Mr. Stein is aware of his rights? Yes, sir. And the nature and acceptance of his order? Absolutely, Your Honor. Yes. It's a formality, but Steins' lawyers filed a notice to preserve all evidence. The judge ordered Steins held without bail. After the brief hearing, Steins was led back to jail. Mickey Steins' lawyers say they're waiting on discovery to dig into the case and review the evidence, and venue could become an issue in this case. This happened in a small town.

Attorney Jeremy Bartley also told me he thinks the federal civil lawsuit in which Steins was deposed before the shooting could provide some context about what happened, but it's more than could be explained in a soundbite. Bartley also said they've seen no evidence that there was an inappropriate relationship between Judge Mullins and Steins' daughter. I spoke with the Bartleys in October about the case. So many people are asking why. I mean, it's clearly on the videotape. You know, he's pleaded not guilty in the lower court, but why? That's the big question. And you asked a number of questions under cross-examination yesterday, Jeremy, about the daughter, about her phone number being in Judge Mullins' phones. Where were you going with that line of questioning? There's been a lot of talk in that small town, but not a lot of concrete answers about what may have been the impetus for this. Well, I mean, our investigation is still ongoing, and

I would hope, given the incomplete answers we got yesterday, that law enforcement's investigation is ongoing. At this point, we don't have a complete picture, but what I think was apparent very early is that there was a sudden inflammation of emotion that transpired in the moments just before the tape came on in the clip that we saw. And so this tape was edited to cut out anything that happened just prior. And we think the moments just prior will tell the whole story. I don't know at this point, what ultimately was on that phone, they're examining the phones. But we believe that based upon the statements that our client made just following arrest, as well as the indication that there was this exchange of phones or viewing of phones, that something in that moment made our client feel that there was no other choice than to do what he did. So it almost sounds like you think he snapped. I mean, this was a reaction. Well, yeah. And that would be textbook extreme emotional disturbance with the, you know, with the textbook example always of finding your significant other with someone else. And in the moment,

you know, in the older case law, they're referred to it the heat of passion. And that's pretty much the same line of reasoning that extreme emotional disturbance follows. There was discussion that he said something about protecting his wife and daughter, or he was concerned about his wife and daughter. And then you were able to elicit that under the questioning of the lead detective, that the daughter's number, and she's a minor from what I understand, her phone number was in Judge Mullins' cell phone. I don't know if that would be unusual since they had been friends for many years. Can you elaborate on that for us? What was going on with the daughter's phone number being in

Judge Mullins' cell phone? Now, candidly, I believe that the officer testified that he believed that our client made a call from the judge's phone. So whether or not there was a call separate from that or whether there were any other calls, I mean, we'll have to await the cell phone records to determine, but there was obviously, if in fact it is true that what the officer said that the daughter's number was dialed during this period of time. And you take that in companion with the statement that our client felt like his wife and his daughter were in danger. certainly there is something there that is going to support our contention that Mr. Steins felt as though he had to act. Now, what that looks like objectively is subject to more discovery and more investigation. Why were you asking about the apps on the phones and the different types of apps that can be used for communication? I mean, it seems to me you could draw an inference that Judge Mullins

potentially may have been communicating with Sheriff Steins' wife or daughter. Do you know that to be true? I have no objective facts that would lead us there or that would anything other than, of course, there's plenty of speculation. And so I'm just asking the questions. At this point, I'm asking the questions and trying to determine, A, what the objective truth is, right? But if you look at that statute, the statute is in reference to what our client's subjective belief was at the time that he acted. And so you actually, you know, everyone wants to know the objective why.

But for us, we want to know the objective truth. But the important thing ultimately for the trial is what did our client believe? And so to answer your question more succinctly, I do not have any basis now to make any conclusion about the phone number or any interaction other than it appears that our client made the statement that he was concerned about the safety of his wife and daughter. Do we know, either Kerry or Jeremy, why Sheriff Steins decided to use Judge Mullins' phone instead of his own? We know he, you know, you said that he did use his phone and then use the judge's phone. Yeah, that is another reason why the phones are going to be so important in this case. And until we have back the forensic

review of the phones, all of the phones, and in fact, I think we learned that there was another phone that was seized or maybe turned over from an employee of the sheriff's that we were not aware of before this, before we were going into the hearing yesterday. All of those phones are going to become critical. And at this point, we just don't know. The Bartleys say they're investigating everything, including whether the civil suit involving former Deputy Fields played a role. We have to ask the question, since the allegations involve the same chambers, the same location that this incident took place in. And, you know, I'm still struck by how unusual it is that you have a live recording of a judge's chambers going on. Most of the time, if you have cameras in a judge's chambers, they are only on if you're having a hearing. And at that point, they're initiated by a court staff and then they are turned off by a court staff and they include audio. video camera recording him 24-7 or 9-5, however long he's in the office. Now, we've had some information that these cameras were put up after the lawsuit and after the conviction of a deputy for some sexual crimes that he committed in the judge's chambers, these same chambers. So

again, we're asking the questions too. And so far, no one will give us the answers. There are a lot of rumors floating around that small town. And one of them has to do with Sheriff Steins' daughter. And we know that she was interviewed by law enforcement in the presence of her mother. Do we know, is there any indication that there's some investigation going on related to that? Kentucky State Police have kind of said they are looking into kind of everything and whether or not there may have been something going on that was untoward with his daughter. Are you aware of anything? We await the, you know, the results of the investigation ourselves. You know, I don't know anything more than we heard yesterday at

the hearing in terms of what that evidence may look like. We don't know. I mean, we're not at this point, we're not making that allegation at all. We are trying to understand why our client felt that he had to protect his wife and daughter as he told the officers that day. And, you know, that could be one, you know, that could be based upon one factor. It could be multiple factors. And we, again, at this point, we're trying to, we don't want to speculate. I'm not going to speculate about anything just because there are these salacious rumors. I'm not going to get into that or speculate about that because for us, the examination is, did our client believe at that time that he either acted in self-protection or that he was so emotionally overcome that he was unable to

control his actions in that point. It's based on his subjective belief. What ultimately is objectively true may be important to know, but the focus will be on what our client believed at the time he had to do. Despite Sheriff Steins being charged with murder, the most serious offense a person can face in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Bartleys say Steins is receiving a lot of support. Sheriff Steins has, you would not believe the outpouring of expressions of support for Sheriff Steins. Again, ultimately, no one is going to ever say, we're never going to say that this is a beneficial thing or a positive thing that a man was killed. It's a tragic thing, no matter how we look at it. And just because we represent the sheriff, anytime there's a loss of life, that's tragic. Well, it's certainly still very early on. Jeremy and Carrie Bartley, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate it.

Thank you for having us. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Annette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.