I definitely agree, I don't believe the actions of the deputy had anything to do with Mullins.
I just wonder if stines believed he was ultimately untouchable because of his own perceived relationship with Mullins, and he thought it might extend to his own negligent or felonious actions?
I imagine Mullins is an upstanding guy and judicious in most ways; he'd probably tell stines he doesn't care if they are friends, or if stines is the sheriff, if stines actually did something criminal or engaged in some wrong doing, I expect the judge to stand by the system he represents and not his buddy.
Maybe Stines thought his last chance to whatever he was facing was the judge being on his side and when the judge wasn't, stines shot him, because he "was already going to lose everything"?
And yes, that is all a bit of fantastic idea, but I really can't imagine Mullins being involved in any wrong doing at all.
I have to disagree. The criminal case long ago was investigated, went to the grand jury, and nobody was indicted or prosecuted here except for Fields.
To be clear, not including Defendant deputy Fields, both D
efendants in the subject
CIVIL action, Lethcer County Sheriff Stines- in his official capacity as the Sheriff, and Eastern Kentucky Correctional Services, Inc., engaged in the business of providing pretrial ankle monitoring services in Letcher County, were not named Individually in the lawsuit by the Plaintiffs.
This lawsuit is a perfect example of what comes with part of the job of being sheriff or providing services to the department, and is treated as claims against the County.
In other words, it's long understood in Kentucky (and elsewhere) that
Official-capacity civil suits are simply “another way of pleading an action against an entity of which an officer is an agent.”
Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166 (1985). This suit as all civil suits is about going for the source of the money, where the only relief available to the plaintiff is monetary damages.
Be reminded that shortly after Stines was elected Sheriff, a former deputy Cogleton-- under then Sheriff Webb, filed a civil action against Stines when he failed to hire her after he was elected sheriff -- citing civil rights violations. She too sued Stines both Individually and under
Official-capacity and her suit was dismissed under both.
A federal judge has dismissed the civil rights case filed by a former deputy against Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines. U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell signed the order dismissing the suit filed by Alisha Congleton last year. Congleton, who was a sergeant with the Letcher County Sheriff ’s...
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