Ex-Muncie officer heads to court for third jury trial

MUNCIE — A former Muncie police officer will return to court for his third jury trial for false reporting on July 8.

In January 2024, a federal judge rejected a plea deal for former officer Corey Posey, even though the prosecution and defense both agreed on it.

The trial is expected to last three days.

The plea agreement had called for Posey to receive a suspended year on probation, including three months home confinement.

The federal judge rejected the sentence saying that probation was not strict enough for a law enforcement officer’s false reporting.

The judge gave the sides multiple options, in which they agreed to go back to trial.

Posey is the fifth Muncie police officer in the federal government’s case against current and former Muncie Police officers — for police brutality or attempting to cover it up

Posey faces up to 10 years in prison.

The remaining four former Muncie police officers have already pleaded guilty to charges. They are either in prison or have already served their prison time.

• Chase Winkle -incarcerated at Memphis FCI in Memphis, TN; projected release date is 12/22/2031
• Sgt. Joseph Krejsa - incarcerated at Gilmer FCI in West Virginia ; projected release date is 8/13/2024
• Dalton Kurtz - previously incarcerated at Beckley FCI in West Virginia; released on 2/1/2024
• Jeremy Gibson - incarcerated at Elkton FCI in Ohio; projected release date is 11/23/2024

Following two hung jury trials in 2023, Posey agreed to plead guilty to Obstruction of Justice (Falsification of a Report).
At the time, Posey’s attorney argued for no prison time citing that he has a limited criminal history, has accepted responsibility, a consistent record of employment, and has “no risk” of re-offending given he’s given up his law enforcement licensure.

“It is important to note that Corey has paid, and will pay, a hefty price,” Posey’s attorney wrote in a sentencing memorandum to the court. “He will have a felony conviction on his permanent criminal history that will never go away for the rest of his life.”

Prosecutors agreed.

“Though he had prior law enforcement experience, Posey was still on probationary status at the time of the offense, and critically, his field training officer was the then-Chief’s son, Chase Winkle, who (as the Court heard at trial) held significant sway over fellow officers with MPD,” federal prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “Posey is and should be a felon, and he should never again be a police officer.”

Taxpayers paid Posey’s salary for more than two years while the case was pending.

WRTV

He remained on paid administrative leave from April 14, 2021, until August 3, 2023 when the Muncie Police Merit Commission placed him on unpaid leave.

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Posey resigned from the Muncie Police Department in October 2023.

The allegations against Corey Posey stem from a 2018 incident in which Posey is accused of writing a report that implied suspect Lonnie Gannom failed to comply with commands.

Posey omitted from the report that his colleague, Officer Chase Winkle, struck Gannom’s head and neck with his knee and also omitted that Winkle caused Gannom’s injuries, the indictment read.

Gannom suffered facial fractures as a result of Winkle’s excessive force.

“Posey's statements about this incident, including his under-oath testimony at trial, were not truthful or consistent with the facts of the incident,” read the plea agreement.

During his last trial, Posey testified in his own defense and said he felt Gannom was not cooperating with his commands during the arrest and at one point pulled his arm away.

Posey said during the incident and while reviewing body camera footage of the incident, Posey was focused on his own actions not other officers, including Winkle.

Posey said that when he wrote the report, Posey knew he didn’t cause Gannom’s injuries. There were several officers at the scene but Posey didn’t know who caused the injuries, Posey testified.

Posey’s attorneys have pointed out that Posey was a rookie at the time, still in training, and that Sgt. Joseph Krejsa was expected to do an investigation of the Gannom incident.

Posey’s attorney also emphasized Posey wrote in his report that Gannom suffered “possible facial fractures” and had to be transported to the hospital.

Muncie Police Department/Photo Provided

Muncie Police Chief Nathan Sloan also testified and said regarding Posey’s report on the Gannom incident, “I don’t believe it’s a lie.”

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Sgt. Brent Brown, a retired Muncie Police physical tactics instructor, testified that officers are trained to document use of force by themselves and other officers.

Corey Posey has another criminal case pending.

He was arrested for drunk driving after Kokomo police said he rear-ended another vehicle on US 31, and a certified chemical test revealed his blood alcohol concentration was .087, which is above the legal limit of .08.

Howard County prosecutors filed formal charges against Posey for:

• Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person
• Oper Veh w/ Alcohol Concentration Equivalent to at Least .08 but Less than .15

His trial in that criminal case is scheduled for September 27.