Video Summary - Is Sheriff Who Shot Judge for No Obvious Reason Innocent After All?

Summary of Video Subtitles (Mickey Stines/Stearns case update & analysis)

The video presenter, Dr. Grande, outlines Sheriff Mickey Stearns (Stines)’s career: police work, later court security and corrections-related jobs, and then election as Sheriff of Letcher County (elected in 2018 and reelected about four years later).
In 2022, Stearns became tied to a courthouse security scandal involving Benjamin Charles Fields, whom Stearns recommended for a security role.
Two women alleged sexual misconduct by Fields:
- Sabrina Adkins claimed Fields arranged sex in exchange for not enforcing a monitoring-device fee, and that the encounter occurred in Judge Kevin Mullins’ chambers (Mullins was described as a friend of Stearns, and Mullins had earlier worked with Stearns in court).
- Jennifer Hill alleged Fields threatened her that her home incarceration would be revoked unless she had sex with him.
Fields was convicted in January 2024, and Stearns fired him.
Stearns was named in a lawsuit alleging he failed to adequately train and supervise Fields; Stearns later participated in a deposition.

Sept. 16, 2024: Stearns is deposed for the lawsuit; the video describes him taking breaks, appearing agitated, and behaving unusually.
Two days later (Sept. 18): he is diagnosed with acute stress reaction, with symptoms described as weight loss, insomnia, paranoia, and erratic behavior.
Sept. 19 (around noon): Stearns and Judge Kevin Mullins reportedly have lunch together without others noticing anything unusual.
Around 2:39–2:52 p.m.: surveillance footage is described step-by-step:
- Stearns enters Mullins’s chambers; others leave, leaving Stearns and Mullins alone.
- Stearns checks doors, handles phones, and then reveals a semi-automatic pistol.
- He orders Mullins to sit down, locks the jury room door, points the weapon, and fires.
- The video describes multiple shots, including firing down at Mullins as Mullins crouches/tries to hide behind the desk.
Afterward: Stearns calmly exits, walks through the courthouse, and eventually surrenders to police. He makes statements suggesting he feels he was targeted (e.g., “Treat me fair,” and claims about someone trying to kidnap his wife and child).

Stearns was charged with murder of a public official.
He retired Sept. 30, 2024, attributed mainly to the judge-killing fallout.
The video notes an early rumor that Mullins contacted Stearns’s daughter (Layla) to provide motive; the presenter says this was later proven false, and the only call from Mullins’s phone to Layla was made by Stearns on the day of the shooting.

Stearns maintains innocence; the defense is building a case centered on mental illness/psychosis, arguing Stearns was legally insane (unable to understand right vs. wrong).
The state argues Stearns’s actions show he understood his conduct at the time.
Dr. Grande structures the case by weighing:
- Inculpatory factors (facts supporting intent/awareness):
  - Stearns ensures he is alone with the judge, checks doors, and leaves quickly afterward.
  - The video argues these behaviors can suggest knowledge and an attempt to manage responsibility.
- Exculpatory factors (facts supporting severe mental impairment):
  - Witnesses described increasing erratic behavior, paranoia, weight loss, and deterioration in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
  - A doctor’s visit the day before focuses largely on insomnia; the presenter suggests this may reflect lack of mental-health recognition.
  - After jail evaluation, the video claims reports include paranoia, disorientation, responding to internal stimuli, and no recollection of recent events—described as an active state of psychosis.
The presenter also references clinical concepts such as anosognosia (reduced insight common in psychosis), arguing Stearns may not have recognized his mental condition.

The presenter says Stearns might have a “plausible” argument for legal insanity, but believes Stearns likely understood right from wrong.
Dr. Grande’s prediction is not full exoneration; instead, he suggests Stearns may pursue a better outcome such as manslaughter via extreme emotional disturbance, because that could reduce liability compared with murder.
The presenter’s overall theory:
- Stearns developed a psychosis-related disorder with paranoia—believing someone intended harm to his wife and daughter.
- He fixated on Judge Mullins as the supposed threat source, even though Mullins had no such contact with the family.
- The presenter argues surrounding people lacked training to recognize mental illness properly, and treatment may have missed the psychosis-insomnia interplay.