Now-disbanded St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit investigator facing allegations of witness tampering
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Jermaine Munn is serving a 130-year prison sentence for the 2013 murder of Jarina Bailey in South Bend. Seven jail informants testified Munn confessed to the crime behind bars.
Munn's representation claims that testimony was fabricated by investigators, who fed information to the witnesses, and now they're trying to cover it up.
In a February court hearing, Tim Corbett, the former St. Joseph County Metro Homicide unit commander, was called to testify about his interactions with one of the jail informants--- Javon Crockett-Berry, who testified against Jermaine Munn.
After learning of this alleged police misconduct, Corbett says he took it upon himself to investigate.
"Nobody's directed me to do anything," Corbett said during testimony.
When asked why he did this, he replied, "To get the information, to show that the information that was being put out about our unit and myself was not right."
However, Munn's representation is arguing that this is witness tampering.
"He's affected the record in ways that we'll never know," said Munn's lead public defender, Mark Koselke. "We will never be able to discover the damage that was done to Munn's case."
The special prosecutors appointed in this case argue Corbett did nothing wrong. To this, presiding Judge David Francisco said, "I think common sense would say that, yeah, he did."
"The fact is that Mr. Corbett is talking to all of these witnesses is making it extra hard for this court to try to discern what the truth is now. And that's disappointing to say the least from an officer, or former officer," Francisco continued.
At that February hearing, the judge ordered Corbett to adhere to the separation of witnesses, told not to have any more contact with the informants in this case.
In another revelation from the Feb. 2 court proceeding, St. Joseph County Superior Court Judge Christopher Fronk is accused of violating the judge's order for the proactive preservation of evidence in Munn's case.
Two felony court clerks testified that Judge Fronk directed them to keep letters to him from Javon Crockett-Berry out of the record, and to not file them.
"I asked that they keep it [his correspondence] private, not file it, because of reasons, but keep it private," Fronk said.
Fronk said he did this to protect the jail informant.
"I asked the clerks to keep it private, which I didn't-- being relatively new in the position, didn't understand that was actually kind of a big deal."
But it's argued by Munn's defense that this deliberate removal of court filings was judicial misconduct.
"This case presents one of the most serious breakdowns that I've ever witnessed in post-conviction," Koselke said. "The record now before you, Corbett's altered transcripts, the undisclosed recordings, the manipulation of witness narratives, and the deliberate removal of Crockett's filings from the court file, shows a pattern of state-connected misconduct that has compromised the integrity of these proceedings at every stage."
Munn's representation motioned for sanctions and also motioned for the judge to make a summary judgement (arguing that the evidence is so tainted, it would be very hard to go to a re-trial.)
Judge Francisco said he would rule on these motions within 90 days, so that can be expected by early May.
ABC57 reached out to all parties in this case. Tim Corbett declined to comment, and Judge Fronk said he cannot discuss a pending legal matter.
St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter deferred any comment to the appointed special prosecutors in this case. They responded, saying, "We disagree with the defense allegations in this case, and we're looking forward to having all the evidence come out in court."
Munn is still serving a separate prison sentence for an unrelated case