Evidentiary hearing includes concerns of witness tampering

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - A case raising questions of misconduct in the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office is now raising concerns of witness tampering. 

Jermaine Munn is asking for a special prosecutor in his attempt to overturn a 130-year sentence for the murder of Jarina Bailey in 2013. 

In Friday’s evidentiary hearing, Judge David Francisco accepted new evidence from Munn's attorneys. They’re attempting to show that St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter could be called as a witness, which would lead to his office being removed from Munn’s case. 

In previous filings, Munn's attorneys have claimed to have witnesses willing to testify to a coordinated effort by prosecutors and the now-disbanded County Metro Homicide Unit (CMHU) to feed information to jailhouse informants, who then fabricated testimony to secure murder convictions. 

Among the exhibits taken into evidence, Friday, was exclusive reporting from ABC57 where Cotter denied the allegations of misconduct. 

“There’s been no credible evidence that investigators have in any way tainted those witnesses' statements by giving them things, or by telling them things, or showing them things,” Cotter said in February. 

The State called Chief Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Fronk to the stand during Friday’s evidentiary hearing. The State suggested Fronk could serve as a witness in Cotter’s place for any questions involving the prosecutor's office. 

But under questioning, there were details about Cotter's involvement with the case and his oversight of the CMHU that Fronk could not answer. 

At the end of the hearing, Munn's lead attorney, Mark Koselke, raised concerns over possible witness tampering. Koselke claimed the former head of the CMHU, Tim Corbett, has repeatedly contacted a witness connected to this case that’s currently incarcerated. 

That witness was apparently stabbed while in custody. Koselke claimed to have heard that Corbett has suggested the stabbing was because the witness talked to Munn's representation. 

The State’s attorney said he was offended by the insinuation. 

Judge Francisco said Indiana State Police would have to handle any investigations into tampering. 

The judge admitted all exhibits into evidence and plans to make a ruling on the special prosecutor by May 24th.