PIKEVILLE, Ky. — The prosecution has now gone on record as opposed to a former assistant county attorney’s request that he be given probation for his evidence tampering conviction.

Donald Kyle Deskins, 50, of Kimper, was indicted in 2023 on charges of murder and evidence tampering for the 2021 death of his wife, Judith Deskins. After his first trial ended in a hung jury, Deskins agreed to enter an Alford plea to one count of evidence tampering in exchange for a five-year sentence.

An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain his innocence while admitting that the evidence in the case would likely result in his conviction. It serves as a guilty plea for sentencing purposes.

But last week, Deskins asked that his sentence be probated, saying that sending him to prison would have a negative effect on his two children.

Prosecutor Tony Skeans filed a response against that request Friday.

Skeans says because Deskins was a public official when the crime occurred, his “egregious breach of ethical and legal standards” require him to face real consequences to “preserve public confidence in the integrity of the justice system.”

“At the time the criminal conduct occurred, the defendant was employed full time as an assistant county attorney — an officer of the court and a sworn representative of the commonwealth,” Skeans wrote in his response. “As such, he occupied a position of public trust, legal authority and ethical responsibility. The offense of tampering with physical evidence, committed whil serving in that public capacity, represents a profound betrayal of that trust and a deliberate undermining of the very legal system the defendant was duty-bound to uphold.”

Deskins is scheduled to be sentenced in a Perry County courtroom this Thursday.

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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.

The post Deskins asks to be sentenced to probation instead of prison appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. – When defendants in the Amber Spradlin murder case appear in court next week, Mountain Top Media will bring you live coverage of the event, as it happens.

Special Judge Eddy Coleman issued an order this week designating Mountain Top Media as the sole media outlet allowed to livestream the proceedings. Mountain Top Media is the only news organization allowed to bring a video camera into the courtroom, but will function as pool camera, giving video of the proceedings to any media outlet that wishes to obtain it.

The proceedings will be broadcast live on Mountain Top TV, the Mountain Top TV app and on the Mountain Top News Facebook page.

Court is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Monday. Attorneys are expected to argue any pending motions they have in the case, and the defendants will be arraigned again, after a grand jury issued a superseding indictment charging each with an additional count of evidence tampering.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — One week after a jury deadlocked in the murder case against former Assistant Pike County Attorney Donald Kyle Deskins, resulting in a mistrial, the special prosecutor overseeing the case says he fully intends to take it to trial once again.

In an interview with Mountain Top News, 24th Circuit Commonwealth’s Attorney Tony Skeans says that, barring a plea agreement, it is his intention to retry the case, with a goal of doing so before the end of the year.

Deskins is charged with murder and two counts of tampering with physical evidence for the 2021 death of his wife, Judith. Following a weeklong trial and 12 hours of deliberations, the jury informed the judge they were deadlocked and unable to reach a unanimous decision.

Special Judge Alison Wells has scheduled a status hearing Aug. 1 in Perry County for attorneys on both sides to discuss next steps.

The post After hung jury, prosecutor plans to take Deskins murder case to trial again appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pike County man has been sentenced on a charge related to the killing of his son.

Larry Harris, 63, of Elkhorn City, had been charged with murder, but he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter back in July after reaching an agreement with prosecutors.

Harris had maintained he shot his son, David Harris, 38, in self-defense back in March of 2022. Court records indicate he shot his son six times, including after he turned and tried to run away. He phoned 911 afterwards and told a dispatcher he did it because he was “tired of being beat and cussed at.” He also refused to administer first aid.

On Thursday, Harris was formally sentenced to serve 10 years in prison. He is currently being held in the Pike County Detention Center.

The post Pike man gets 10 years in shooting death of son appeared first on Mountain Top Media.