Kentucky
Ex-sheriff to get bond hearing more than a year after being charged with killing a judge
A judge refused to dismiss the murder indictment against a former Kentucky sheriff accused of gunning down a judge in his courthouse chambers, but will allow a bond hearing for the ex-lawman now jailed for more than a year, according to rulings released Thursday.
At the upcoming bond hearing, defense attorneys cannot discuss the contents of a sealed mental health evaluation of former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines, said Circuit Judge Christopher Cohron. A date for the hearing was not immediately set by Cohron, who serves as special judge in the case.
Cohron said in the ruling Wednesday that “a bail hearing is not a trial rehearsal.”
In granting the defense request for the bond hearing, the judge said: “The court will first hear evidence to determine whether the defendant is bailable. If the defendant is found to be bailable, the court may then consider setting a bond.”
Stines is accused of killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in September 2024 at the courthouse in Whitesburg. Security camera footage from Mullins’ chambers showed a man police identified as Stines pointing a gun and firing at Mullins. Mullins died at the scene and Stines, who was sheriff at the time, surrendered without incident.
Stines has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder of a public official.
Whether bond is justified for the former sheriff has been an ongoing issue. In August, defense attorneys recommended a $50,000 bond, saying Stines is not a flight risk and poses no danger to himself or the community. Prosecutors have responded that Stines is not entitled to a bond, citing a section of Kentucky’s constitution that says the right to bail doesn’t apply to people charged with a capital offense.
An attorney for Stines didn’t immediately return a phone call and email Thursday seeking comment on the judge’s rulings. Prosecutors say they’re limited in discussing an ongoing case.
Authorities haven’t revealed a possible motive for the shooting that stunned residents of Whitesburg, an Appalachian town about 100 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Lexington, Kentucky, near the Virginia border.
Stines and Mullins had known each other for years. On the day of the shooting, they met for lunch with several other people, a Kentucky State Police detective said at a prior hearing. During the lunch, the judge apparently asked Stines if they needed to meet privately.
Stines resigned as sheriff days after the shooting and has been held without bond.
In his other rulings, Cohron denied defense motions to dismiss the indictment and unseal the ex-sheriff’s mental health evaluation. In seeking the dismissal, defense arguments included claims that prosecutors elicited false and misleading testimony, thus tainting the grand jury proceedings. The judge ruled that prosecutors met the legal burden to present evidence to the grand jury showing probable cause in the case.
Stines’ lawyers have argued that the former sheriff suffered from “extreme emotional disturbance” prior to the shooting. In a document written a few days after the shooting, a social worker who met with Stines in jail said he had remained in “an active state of psychosis” and didn’t appear to understand the criminal charge against him.
His lawyers have signaled their defense will focus on an insanity or extreme emotional disturbance claim.
At a prior court hearing, a harrowing video showing the judge being gunned down was revealed. The video, with no audio, showed a man identified by police as Stines pulling out a gun and shooting at the judge, who was seated at his desk. The man walked around the desk, pointed the gun at the judge — who ducked behind the desk for cover — and fired again, it showed.
Stines could potentially face the death penalty if convicted, but prosecutors haven’t yet filed notice with the court on whether they will seek the death penalty.
California
Doctor who sold ketamine to ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A doctor who pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to Matthew Perry was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Wednesday at an emotional hearing over the “Friends” star’s overdose death.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence that included two years of probation and a $5,600 fine to 44-year-old Dr. Salvador Plasencia in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles.
The judge emphasized that Plasencia didn’t provide the ketamine that killed Perry, but told him, “You and others helped Mr. Perry on the road to such an ending by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction.”
“You exploited Mr. Perry’s addiction for your own profit,” she said.
Plasencia was led from the courtroom in handcuffs as his mother cried in the audience. He might have arranged a date to surrender, but his lawyers said he was prepared to do it today.
Perry’s mother, stepmother and two half sisters gave tearful victim impact statements before the sentencing.
“My brother’s death turned my world upside down,” sister Madeline Morrison said, crying. “It punched a crater in my life. His absence is everywhere.”
She talked about the broad effect of losing him.
“The world mourns my brother. He was everyone’s favorite friend,” Morrison said, adding “celebrities are not plastic dolls that you can take advantage of. They’re people. They’re human beings with families.”
Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit.
Plasencia was the first person sentenced of the five defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s death at age 54 in 2023.
The doctor admitted to taking advantage of Perry, knowing he was a struggling addict. Plasencia texted another doctor that Perry was a “moron” who could be exploited for money, according to court filings.
Prosecutors had asked for three years in prison, while the defense sought just a day in prison plus probation.
Perry’s mother talked about the things he overcame in life and the strength he showed.
“I used to think he couldn’t die,” Suzanne Perry said as her husband, “Dateline” journalist Keith Morrison, stood at the podium with her.
“You called him a ‘moron,’” she said, addressing Plasencia. “There is nothing moronic about that man. He was even a successful drug addict.”
She spoke eloquently and apologized for rambling before getting tearful at the end, saying, “this was a bad thing you did!”
Plasencia also spoke, moments after Suzanne Perry, breaking into tears as he imagined the day he would have to tell his now 2-year-old son “about the time I didn’t protect another mother’s son. It hurts me so much. I can’t believe I’m here.”
He apologized directly to Perry’s family. “I should have protected him,” he said.
Perry had been taking the surgical anesthetic ketamine legally as a treatment for depression. But when his regular doctor wouldn’t provide it in the amounts he wanted, he turned to Plasencia.
Plasencia’s lawyers tried to give a sympathetic portrait of him as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients.
His mother stood to speak after Perry’s mother had spoken, but the judge told her it wasn’t appropriate for this hearing.
Outside the courthouse after, Luz Plasencia told reporters, “I’m sorry to the family of Matthew Perry.”
“I’m feeling what they feel,” she said. Speaking about her son, she said, “I know his heart.”
Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He did not plead to causing Perry’s death, and the amount he distributed was relatively small given that he sold only to Perry.
The judge said she largely agreed with a probation report suggesting the appropriate sentence was between eight and 14 months, but she went well beyond that.
“I think the judge was very well-reasoned,” Keith Morrison told reporters.
At the start of the hearing, she said that family impact statements may not be appropriate because legally, “there is no identifiable victim in this case. The victim is the public.”
But Plasencia’s lawyers said they didn’t object to family members speaking.
The defense sought to cast Plasencia as a doctor treating a patient who was overcome by recklessness and greed.
“It was a perfect storm of bad decision-making, everybody agrees,” attorney Karen Goldstein said, adding “absolutely his judgment was clouded by money.”
Prosecutors said he was never acting as a doctor.
“He wasn’t a negligent or reckless medical provider,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello said. “He was a drug dealer in a white coat.”
Garnett generally agreed, pushing back against the defense argument that Perry was Plasencia’s patient, and that the doctor had diagnosed him in a phone call they had before the sales began.
“Mr. Plasencia kept pushing it,” the judge said. He literally was offering to sell ketamine.”
When another defense attorney, asked “Is your honor confused about how this all went down?” Garnett replied, sternly, “No I’m not.”
The other four defendants who reached deals to plead guilty will be sentenced at their own hearings in the coming months. Garnett said she would seek to make sure all the sentences made sense in relation to one another.
Michigan
Man sentenced for arson, first-degree animal torture/killing
Jesse Humphrey, 30, was sentenced Thursday after being convicted by a jury after a five-day trial in October, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido. He was convicted of two counts of Second-Degree Arson and two counts of First-Degree Animals – Torture/ Killing. Humphrey started a fire at his then-girlfriend’s home in Warren in September 2024, destroying the home and killing her pets. She was not home at the time, but he knew that her cats were in the building when he set it on fire.
On Thursday, Dec. 4, Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Toia sentenced Humphrey on two counts of Second-Degree Arson and two counts of First-Degree Animals – Torture/ Killing. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Maria Panchenko argued that the judge should not accept the probation department’s sentence recommendation of 60 to 240 months, but he should sentence Humphrey to the top of the sentencing guidelines. Toia agreed and sentenced Humphrey to a minimum of 75 to 240 months in the Michigan Department of Corrections with credit for 438 days served.
Toia also ordered Humphrey to have no contact with the victim or her family, no social media contacts, and no attempts to address her in any way. He must remain at least 500 feet from her person, her residence, work or school. He was also ordered to pay the victim $15,000 restitution as a condition of parole.
Ex-sheriff to get bond hearing more than a year after being charged with killing a judge
A judge refused to dismiss the murder indictment against a former Kentucky sheriff accused of gunning down a judge in his courthouse chambers, but will allow a bond hearing for the ex-lawman now jailed for more than a year, according to rulings released Thursday.
At the upcoming bond hearing, defense attorneys cannot discuss the contents of a sealed mental health evaluation of former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines, said Circuit Judge Christopher Cohron. A date for the hearing was not immediately set by Cohron, who serves as special judge in the case.
Cohron said in the ruling Wednesday that “a bail hearing is not a trial rehearsal.”
In granting the defense request for the bond hearing, the judge said: “The court will first hear evidence to determine whether the defendant is bailable. If the defendant is found to be bailable, the court may then consider setting a bond.”
Stines is accused of killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in September 2024 at the courthouse in Whitesburg. Security camera footage from Mullins’ chambers showed a man police identified as Stines pointing a gun and firing at Mullins. Mullins died at the scene and Stines, who was sheriff at the time, surrendered without incident.
Stines has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder of a public official.
Whether bond is justified for the former sheriff has been an ongoing issue. In August, defense attorneys recommended a $50,000 bond, saying Stines is not a flight risk and poses no danger to himself or the community. Prosecutors have responded that Stines is not entitled to a bond, citing a section of Kentucky’s constitution that says the right to bail doesn’t apply to people charged with a capital offense.
An attorney for Stines didn’t immediately return a phone call and email Thursday seeking comment on the judge’s rulings. Prosecutors say they’re limited in discussing an ongoing case.
Authorities haven’t revealed a possible motive for the shooting that stunned residents of Whitesburg, an Appalachian town about 100 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Lexington, Kentucky, near the Virginia border.
Stines and Mullins had known each other for years. On the day of the shooting, they met for lunch with several other people, a Kentucky State Police detective said at a prior hearing. During the lunch, the judge apparently asked Stines if they needed to meet privately.
Stines resigned as sheriff days after the shooting and has been held without bond.
In his other rulings, Cohron denied defense motions to dismiss the indictment and unseal the ex-sheriff’s mental health evaluation. In seeking the dismissal, defense arguments included claims that prosecutors elicited false and misleading testimony, thus tainting the grand jury proceedings. The judge ruled that prosecutors met the legal burden to present evidence to the grand jury showing probable cause in the case.
Stines’ lawyers have argued that the former sheriff suffered from “extreme emotional disturbance” prior to the shooting. In a document written a few days after the shooting, a social worker who met with Stines in jail said he had remained in “an active state of psychosis” and didn’t appear to understand the criminal charge against him.
His lawyers have signaled their defense will focus on an insanity or extreme emotional disturbance claim.
At a prior court hearing, a harrowing video showing the judge being gunned down was revealed. The video, with no audio, showed a man identified by police as Stines pulling out a gun and shooting at the judge, who was seated at his desk. The man walked around the desk, pointed the gun at the judge — who ducked behind the desk for cover — and fired again, it showed.
Stines could potentially face the death penalty if convicted, but prosecutors haven’t yet filed notice with the court on whether they will seek the death penalty.
California
Doctor who sold ketamine to ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A doctor who pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to Matthew Perry was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Wednesday at an emotional hearing over the “Friends” star’s overdose death.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence that included two years of probation and a $5,600 fine to 44-year-old Dr. Salvador Plasencia in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles.
The judge emphasized that Plasencia didn’t provide the ketamine that killed Perry, but told him, “You and others helped Mr. Perry on the road to such an ending by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction.”
“You exploited Mr. Perry’s addiction for your own profit,” she said.
Plasencia was led from the courtroom in handcuffs as his mother cried in the audience. He might have arranged a date to surrender, but his lawyers said he was prepared to do it today.
Perry’s mother, stepmother and two half sisters gave tearful victim impact statements before the sentencing.
“My brother’s death turned my world upside down,” sister Madeline Morrison said, crying. “It punched a crater in my life. His absence is everywhere.”
She talked about the broad effect of losing him.
“The world mourns my brother. He was everyone’s favorite friend,” Morrison said, adding “celebrities are not plastic dolls that you can take advantage of. They’re people. They’re human beings with families.”
Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit.
Plasencia was the first person sentenced of the five defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s death at age 54 in 2023.
The doctor admitted to taking advantage of Perry, knowing he was a struggling addict. Plasencia texted another doctor that Perry was a “moron” who could be exploited for money, according to court filings.
Prosecutors had asked for three years in prison, while the defense sought just a day in prison plus probation.
Perry’s mother talked about the things he overcame in life and the strength he showed.
“I used to think he couldn’t die,” Suzanne Perry said as her husband, “Dateline” journalist Keith Morrison, stood at the podium with her.
“You called him a ‘moron,’” she said, addressing Plasencia. “There is nothing moronic about that man. He was even a successful drug addict.”
She spoke eloquently and apologized for rambling before getting tearful at the end, saying, “this was a bad thing you did!”
Plasencia also spoke, moments after Suzanne Perry, breaking into tears as he imagined the day he would have to tell his now 2-year-old son “about the time I didn’t protect another mother’s son. It hurts me so much. I can’t believe I’m here.”
He apologized directly to Perry’s family. “I should have protected him,” he said.
Perry had been taking the surgical anesthetic ketamine legally as a treatment for depression. But when his regular doctor wouldn’t provide it in the amounts he wanted, he turned to Plasencia.
Plasencia’s lawyers tried to give a sympathetic portrait of him as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients.
His mother stood to speak after Perry’s mother had spoken, but the judge told her it wasn’t appropriate for this hearing.
Outside the courthouse after, Luz Plasencia told reporters, “I’m sorry to the family of Matthew Perry.”
“I’m feeling what they feel,” she said. Speaking about her son, she said, “I know his heart.”
Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He did not plead to causing Perry’s death, and the amount he distributed was relatively small given that he sold only to Perry.
The judge said she largely agreed with a probation report suggesting the appropriate sentence was between eight and 14 months, but she went well beyond that.
“I think the judge was very well-reasoned,” Keith Morrison told reporters.
At the start of the hearing, she said that family impact statements may not be appropriate because legally, “there is no identifiable victim in this case. The victim is the public.”
But Plasencia’s lawyers said they didn’t object to family members speaking.
The defense sought to cast Plasencia as a doctor treating a patient who was overcome by recklessness and greed.
“It was a perfect storm of bad decision-making, everybody agrees,” attorney Karen Goldstein said, adding “absolutely his judgment was clouded by money.”
Prosecutors said he was never acting as a doctor.
“He wasn’t a negligent or reckless medical provider,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello said. “He was a drug dealer in a white coat.”
Garnett generally agreed, pushing back against the defense argument that Perry was Plasencia’s patient, and that the doctor had diagnosed him in a phone call they had before the sales began.
“Mr. Plasencia kept pushing it,” the judge said. He literally was offering to sell ketamine.”
When another defense attorney, asked “Is your honor confused about how this all went down?” Garnett replied, sternly, “No I’m not.”
The other four defendants who reached deals to plead guilty will be sentenced at their own hearings in the coming months. Garnett said she would seek to make sure all the sentences made sense in relation to one another.
Michigan
Man sentenced for arson, first-degree animal torture/killing
Jesse Humphrey, 30, was sentenced Thursday after being convicted by a jury after a five-day trial in October, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido. He was convicted of two counts of Second-Degree Arson and two counts of First-Degree Animals – Torture/ Killing. Humphrey started a fire at his then-girlfriend’s home in Warren in September 2024, destroying the home and killing her pets. She was not home at the time, but he knew that her cats were in the building when he set it on fire.
On Thursday, Dec. 4, Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Toia sentenced Humphrey on two counts of Second-Degree Arson and two counts of First-Degree Animals – Torture/ Killing. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Maria Panchenko argued that the judge should not accept the probation department’s sentence recommendation of 60 to 240 months, but he should sentence Humphrey to the top of the sentencing guidelines. Toia agreed and sentenced Humphrey to a minimum of 75 to 240 months in the Michigan Department of Corrections with credit for 438 days served.
Toia also ordered Humphrey to have no contact with the victim or her family, no social media contacts, and no attempts to address her in any way. He must remain at least 500 feet from her person, her residence, work or school. He was also ordered to pay the victim $15,000 restitution as a condition of parole.
