PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Ahead of his sentencing for evidence tampering next week, defense attorneys for Donald Kyle Deskins are asking that any sentence he receive be probated.
Deskins was indicted in 2023 on charges of murder and evidence tampering for the 2021 death of his wife, Judith Deskins. After one trial ended in a hung jury, Deskins and prosecutors agreed to a plea deal on the eve of his second trial that saw him enter an Alford plea to one count of evidence tampering in exchange for the murder charge and a second count of evidence tampering being dropped.
An Alford plea is when a defendant maintains his innocence but admits that the prosecution could likely obtain a guilty verdict. For the court’s purposes, it functions as a guilty plea.
As part of the plea deal, both sides agreed that the prosecution would recommend a sentence of five years in prison. Now, Deskins’ attorneys are asking the judge to probate that sentence.
A motion filed in the case on Wednesday notes that Deskins will have served 646 days in pre-trial detention by the time he is sentenced, most of which has been under home incarceration. The attorneys argue that Deskins is the primary caretaker of his two children, and sending him to prison would have a negative effect on them. It also notes that he has no other criminal convictions and has had no violations of his home incarceration.
In the event the judge does not agree to probation, the motion asks that the remainder of his sentence be served under home incarceration.
Deskins is scheduled to be sentenced in a Perry County courtroom next Thursday.
