Originally published at: Sheriff who killed judge pleads not guilty and has not resigned - Boing Boing
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WTAF?
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Try to get the Kentucky Peace Officers Association to demand he step down? I’m not sure if this is Stines’s union, but they’re being conspicuously silent on this matter for an organisation supposedly concerned about high professional standards in policing.
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Even if he was innocent it would be grossly inappropriate for him to stay in his position while facing trial. C’mon, man.
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It will be interesting to see what caused all of this.Supposedly the murder was recorded in the chambers, so they should know what the argument was about. I have seen a rumor floating around that would partially “justify” the Sheriffs actions, but I think it is bullshit.
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Has the sheriff offered any explanation of why the judge came to be lying dead with one (or more) of his bullets in him?
Accidental discharge? The judge tried to grab his gun? He was forced to defend himself when the judge came at him with a gavel?
I’m sure his campaign for re-election will be quite something: “Sheriff Stines: protecting you from the judiciary since 2024.”
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Unless that rumor involves the judge pulling a gun on the sheriff first, nothing would justify the sheriff killing the judge. Even if the judge were discovered to be guilty of some heinous crime, the sheriff is not judge, jury, and executioner.
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Sincere question - would a judge in Kentucky be allowed to have a firearm on his person or in his/her chambers during a typical work day?
My guess is Yes - which probably complicates the matter like it does w everything else involving firearms in the US.
Still waiting for an alien intervention to remove guns from people until they can play nicely together…
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I don’t know, but we can use some logic here. If this judge had been armed, and if he had pulled his weapon first, I’m pretty sure we would have heard about that. And I’m pretty sure the sheriff wouldn’t be under arrest, because that would then be an in the line of duty shooting, and he would just be under a standard suspension pending an pretty standard investigation of an officer involved shooting. Hell, he might not even be suspended. I’m not sure what the procedure for that is for a sheriff in Kentucky. But I know he wouldn’t be under arrest facing a murder charge.
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True- but if they are both armed - it could turn into a ‘he said she said’ situation after the sheriff opened fire. Well - at least a ‘he said’ at this point.
In my head this was possibly a Reservoir Dogs type situation following some verbal disagreement. 
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Yeah my guess is he’s going to make some kind of self-defense claim based around weapons and honestly… idk but I’ve seen people get away with as bad or worse so it might totally work.
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I’ve seen the same rumor, which is totally unsubstantiated to my knowledge at this point. If it is true, it still won’t justify it legally, but I would be strongly tempted to follow that same route in his place.
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And then would you claim not guilty and keep your position, or tell people the truth about why you did it and hope it inspires some clemency in sentencing?
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exactly. That right there.
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I dunno - I think any lawyer would tell you to not say a damn thing at this point.
Cops lie all the time, and other people will lie for them. I am not saying it is out the realm of possibilities on why someone would murder someone they were supposedly friends with. But it isn’t the only reason someone would do that.
And as others said, it doesn’t make it justifiable or legal, just understandable as to motive.
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Now I’m really curious…
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Yeah, the thing is, cops, including sheriffs, are usually given the benefit of the doubt and not immediately arrested and charged with murder. This sheriff was immediately arrested and charged with murder. I would bet there’s no indication that this was a self defense situation. If it were, it really wouldn’t even be self defense. It would be the sheriff doing his job. How often have we seen LEOs immediately arrested and charged with murder for a killing in the line of duty? Almost never. Even Derek Chauvin wasn’t arrested and charged until well after George Floyd was killed. So my guess is something about this killing makes it obvious that this didn’t happen in the line of duty. Whether that’s surveillance video or something the sheriff said, I don’t know. But there’s something.
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He fits the profile.
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What we know is that sheriff was looking the other way when a deputy was raping.
There’s an online rumor being floated by people of a certain political bent that “excuses” the sheriff’s actions. Any time someone on reddit references this they claim to be from that county and thus an unquestioned expert. Smells like baloney.
Even if it were true, the sheriff could have arrested the guy, not shot him dead.
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