MUNCIE — The federal jury trial for three current and former Muncie Police Department officers accused of excessive force or covering it up has been rescheduled for January 2023.
On Friday, Federal Judge Tanya Walton Pratt set the final pre-trial conference for Dec. 21 and the trial by jury to start on Jan. 9, 2023.
The trial for officers Chase Winkle, Corey Posey and Sgt. Joe Kresja was scheduled to begin in August, but it was delayed in June due to medical emergencies.
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According to the motion to continue the trial, the trial has already been continued five times for several reasons including the COVID-19 pandemic, a superseding indictment and the need to review discovery.
According to the motion, Winkle’s lead attorney was scheduled to undergo surgery and will be recovering for six-eight weeks.
In addition, Krejsa was also scheduled to undergo surgery and needs three months to recover.
Former Muncie Police Department Officer Jeremy Gibson pleaded guilty last month to two felony charges connected with excessive force and covering it up.
Gibson pled guilty to two charges including depriving arrestees of their rights and obstruction of justice for falsifying a report about use of force. Pratt accepted Gibson’s plea.
He faces up to 30 years in prison and will be sentenced at a later date.
He had nothing to say when WRTV Investigates asked him if he had anything to say to the community or whether he planned to apologize.
As part of the plea, Gibson agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors and testify against other police officers in the case who are accused of excessive force or attempting to cover it up: Winkle, Posey and Krejsa.
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Gibson resigned from the Muncie Police Department on March 10.
He had previously been on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the federal criminal cases and charges of conduct violations before the Muncie Police Merit Commission.
Winkle and Posey are still employed by the Muncie Police Department, and Posey is still receiving a salary, WRTV Investigates has learned.
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Posey has been with the department since 2018 and his salary is $56,386 or $27.11 per hour, records show.
According to a federal indictment, Posey is charged with one count of False Report, a felony.
Krejsa retired from the department in July 2021. According to a federal indictment, he is charged with two counts of writing false reports about two alleged excessive force incidents.
Winkle is charged with five counts of deprivation of rights associated with excessive force and six counts of writing false reports. He allegedly wrote false reports about his use of force against five people he arrested, along with two others arrested by Muncie police officers.
