Nevada
Public defenders argue state’s acting U.S. attorney is serving without Senate confirmation
Sigal Chattah’s role as Nevada’s acting U.S. attorney is being challenged by Nevada’s federal public defender’s office, which argued in legal filings that her continuation as the top prosecutor in the state on an interim basis is illegitimate.
In three separate federal court filings last week, the office argued in otherwise unrelated criminal cases that President Donald Trump’s administration pursued illegal “personnel maneuvers” that allowed Chattah to remain Nevada’s top federal law enforcement officer after her first stint as the interim U.S. attorney expired in July. Similar battles are playing out in other states over Trump appointees to the role.
The filings ask the judges to disqualify Chattah and allow other Nevada federal judges to name a new interim U.S. attorney, and contends that several indictments brought while Chattah was acting U.S. attorney be dropped.
Her interim appointment lasted 120 days, but Trump then named her the state’s acting U.S. attorney, which allowed her to stay in the position for an additional 210 days. Nevada’s two senators, Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, have vehemently opposed Chattah’s appointment to the position, calling her a partisan operative and an extremist who is unfit for the job, and vowed to block her if the administration seeks to appoint her permanently to the role.
The Trump administration has pursued similar efforts in other states, but they have faced legal scrutiny. Last month, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that the state’s acting U.S. attorney — Alina Habba, who was also previously the state’s interim U.S. attorney — was unlawfully working as the state’s top federal prosecutor. After the ruling, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said “we will protect her position from activist judicial attacks.”
The challenges in Nevada follow a similar legal playbook. The state’s federal public defender’s office is arguing that cases against three people who were indicted while Chattah was the acting U.S. attorney should be thrown out.
“The Court should dismiss the indictment; at a minimum, it should disqualify Ms. Chattah from this prosecution, as well as attorneys operating under her direction; and the judges of this district should exercise their authority to appoint a proper interim U.S. Attorney,” the challenges said in identical language.
When reached for comment on Tuesday, Chattah hung up on a Nevada Independent reporter.
Chattah, a longtime Trump supporter who lost a bid for attorney general in 2022, has also served as the state’s Republican national committeewoman, a position she initially remained in despite her appointment as interim U.S. attorney.
The challenges are likely to continue scrutiny of the Trump administration’s efforts to unilaterally name its top federal prosecutors without receiving approval from the U.S. Senate.
Permanent appointments to the federal judiciary require Senate approval, but that process can be bypassed via non-permanent appointments.
In the lawsuits, the federal public defender’s office argued that Chattah does not meet the criteria for acting officers outlined in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and that she could not keep serving as U.S. attorney on an interim basis after her initial 120-day stint ended.
It also argues that, even if the court maintains that the acting appointment was legal, the position still requires approval from the U.S. Senate given Chattah’s lengthy stay in the office.
“(T)he administration may view Ms. Chattah’s service as temporary in name only — so her service therefore requires Senate confirmation,” the lawsuits say.
Kentucky
Former sheriff charged in killing county judge battled jail staff
A former Kentucky sheriff charged with killing a county judge remained in an “active state of psychosis” days after the shooting and battled with jail staff, who had to use pepper spray on him, according to recently filed court documents.
Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is charged with killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers nearly a year ago, shocking the small eastern Kentucky community that twice elected Stines as sheriff. Widely viewed security camera footage from Mullins’ chambers shows a man police identified as Stines pointing a gun and firing at Mullins.
The ex-sheriff has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder of a public official. Stines’ lawyers filed a transcript this week of the grand jury testimony by a state police detective in the case, along with other documents.
Stines’ lawyers are seeking to have his mental evaluation by state doctors unsealed. They have argued that Stines 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. Stines had “episodes of combativeness which has required pepper spray,” the document said.
State Police Det. Clayton Stamper detailed the moments before and after the Sept. 19 shooting to the grand jury, which was included in court filings this week.
Shortly after the shooting, a deputy saw Stines walking on the street away from the courthouse with a “blank look on his face” and he ignored the deputy’s questions, Stamper told the grand jury. Two other officers entered the courthouse and prepared to look for an active shooter when Stines “walked right in behind them” and told the officers, “there’s nobody else, it was me,” Stamper testified.
Officers responding to the shooting found Mullins on the floor of his office with several gunshot wounds, Stamper said. The detective said he reviewed video from Mullins’ chamber, which showed Stines asking four people to leave Mullins’ office a few minutes before the shooting. It shows Stines getting up from a chair to check several doors, and then he borrows the judge’s phone, Stamper said.
Stamper said Stines initially fired two shots at Mullins, reached around the desk, fired another shot, and then as he was leaving, reached under the desk and fired six more shots.
Stamper said police investigated whether there was any involvement between Mullins and Stines’ family, including probing Mullins’ phone, but Stines’ family members told police they had no contact at all with Mullins and police found no evidence of any connection.
Stines resigned as sheriff days after the shooting and is jailed in eastern Kentucky without bond.
Prosecutors asked a judge this week to move the trial out of the county, where both Stines and Mullins were well-known public figures. Stines’ attorneys objected to the move, arguing that he could still get a fair trial in his home county. No trial date has been set.
Public defenders argue state’s acting U.S. attorney is serving without Senate confirmation
Sigal Chattah’s role as Nevada’s acting U.S. attorney is being challenged by Nevada’s federal public defender’s office, which argued in legal filings that her continuation as the top prosecutor in the state on an interim basis is illegitimate.
In three separate federal court filings last week, the office argued in otherwise unrelated criminal cases that President Donald Trump’s administration pursued illegal “personnel maneuvers” that allowed Chattah to remain Nevada’s top federal law enforcement officer after her first stint as the interim U.S. attorney expired in July. Similar battles are playing out in other states over Trump appointees to the role.
The filings ask the judges to disqualify Chattah and allow other Nevada federal judges to name a new interim U.S. attorney, and contends that several indictments brought while Chattah was acting U.S. attorney be dropped.
Her interim appointment lasted 120 days, but Trump then named her the state’s acting U.S. attorney, which allowed her to stay in the position for an additional 210 days. Nevada’s two senators, Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, have vehemently opposed Chattah’s appointment to the position, calling her a partisan operative and an extremist who is unfit for the job, and vowed to block her if the administration seeks to appoint her permanently to the role.
The Trump administration has pursued similar efforts in other states, but they have faced legal scrutiny. Last month, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that the state’s acting U.S. attorney — Alina Habba, who was also previously the state’s interim U.S. attorney — was unlawfully working as the state’s top federal prosecutor. After the ruling, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said “we will protect her position from activist judicial attacks.”
The challenges in Nevada follow a similar legal playbook. The state’s federal public defender’s office is arguing that cases against three people who were indicted while Chattah was the acting U.S. attorney should be thrown out.
“The Court should dismiss the indictment; at a minimum, it should disqualify Ms. Chattah from this prosecution, as well as attorneys operating under her direction; and the judges of this district should exercise their authority to appoint a proper interim U.S. Attorney,” the challenges said in identical language.
When reached for comment on Tuesday, Chattah hung up on a Nevada Independent reporter.
Chattah, a longtime Trump supporter who lost a bid for attorney general in 2022, has also served as the state’s Republican national committeewoman, a position she initially remained in despite her appointment as interim U.S. attorney.
The challenges are likely to continue scrutiny of the Trump administration’s efforts to unilaterally name its top federal prosecutors without receiving approval from the U.S. Senate.
Permanent appointments to the federal judiciary require Senate approval, but that process can be bypassed via non-permanent appointments.
In the lawsuits, the federal public defender’s office argued that Chattah does not meet the criteria for acting officers outlined in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and that she could not keep serving as U.S. attorney on an interim basis after her initial 120-day stint ended.
It also argues that, even if the court maintains that the acting appointment was legal, the position still requires approval from the U.S. Senate given Chattah’s lengthy stay in the office.
“(T)he administration may view Ms. Chattah’s service as temporary in name only — so her service therefore requires Senate confirmation,” the lawsuits say.
Kentucky
Former sheriff charged in killing county judge battled jail staff
A former Kentucky sheriff charged with killing a county judge remained in an “active state of psychosis” days after the shooting and battled with jail staff, who had to use pepper spray on him, according to recently filed court documents.
Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is charged with killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers nearly a year ago, shocking the small eastern Kentucky community that twice elected Stines as sheriff. Widely viewed security camera footage from Mullins’ chambers shows a man police identified as Stines pointing a gun and firing at Mullins.
The ex-sheriff has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder of a public official. Stines’ lawyers filed a transcript this week of the grand jury testimony by a state police detective in the case, along with other documents.
Stines’ lawyers are seeking to have his mental evaluation by state doctors unsealed. They have argued that Stines 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. Stines had “episodes of combativeness which has required pepper spray,” the document said.
State Police Det. Clayton Stamper detailed the moments before and after the Sept. 19 shooting to the grand jury, which was included in court filings this week.
Shortly after the shooting, a deputy saw Stines walking on the street away from the courthouse with a “blank look on his face” and he ignored the deputy’s questions, Stamper told the grand jury. Two other officers entered the courthouse and prepared to look for an active shooter when Stines “walked right in behind them” and told the officers, “there’s nobody else, it was me,” Stamper testified.
Officers responding to the shooting found Mullins on the floor of his office with several gunshot wounds, Stamper said. The detective said he reviewed video from Mullins’ chamber, which showed Stines asking four people to leave Mullins’ office a few minutes before the shooting. It shows Stines getting up from a chair to check several doors, and then he borrows the judge’s phone, Stamper said.
Stamper said Stines initially fired two shots at Mullins, reached around the desk, fired another shot, and then as he was leaving, reached under the desk and fired six more shots.
Stamper said police investigated whether there was any involvement between Mullins and Stines’ family, including probing Mullins’ phone, but Stines’ family members told police they had no contact at all with Mullins and police found no evidence of any connection.
Stines resigned as sheriff days after the shooting and is jailed in eastern Kentucky without bond.
Prosecutors asked a judge this week to move the trial out of the county, where both Stines and Mullins were well-known public figures. Stines’ attorneys objected to the move, arguing that he could still get a fair trial in his home county. No trial date has been set.
