Muncie officers want excessive force case trial postponed

Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press
·1 min read

MUNCIE, Ind. — Chase Winkle and two other Muncie police officers indicted on charges that stem from allegations of excessive force want their upcoming federal trial to be postponed.

Winkle and fellow officers Jeremy Gibson and Corey Posey — and Joseph Krejsa, a Muncie police sergeant who has retired since being indicted — are set to stand trial Jan. 24 in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.

Several of the 17 charges involve allegations of Winkle "kicking, punching, knee-striking, and using a taser on arrestees without justification, (resulting) in bodily injury to the arrestees." federal prosecutors said in an April press release.

Krejsa and Posey are accused of filing false reports concerning Winkle's behavior. Gibson is accused of participating in two of the "excessive force" incidents and filing a related false report.

Attorneys for Winkle, Posey and Gibson last week filed the motion to continue their trial. Krejsa did not participate in the motion.

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When she agreed to postpone the officers' trial for a fourth time last June, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said the defendants "should anticipate no further continuances of the trial date."

In their motion last week, the defendants urged the judge to reconsider, saying "the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected the defendants' ability to prepare for trial."

The judge is also considering a request by Posey that he be granted a separate trial from his co-defendants. She earlier rejected a similar motion from Gibson.

The allegations stem from events that took place between March 2018 and February 2019.

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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Three Muncie officers want excessive force trial rescheduled