Attorney General drops charges against ex-Bunkie police chief Corner

All charges against former Bunkie police chief Bobby Corner have been dismissed.

"It was a little late for Christmas, but just in time to make it a great New Year," defense attorney Mike Small said. "My client and his wife are greatly relieved and happy to move on with their lives without this court case hanging over their heads."

Assistant Attorney General Winston White, the lead prosecutor, recently notified Small that all charges were dismissed and that the Avoyelles Clerk of Court's Office would be instructed to note the dismissal in the court minutes. Small issued a brief press release today and spoke to Avoyelles Today to provide additional comments.

Corner was arrested in October 2018 on charges of malfeasance in office, tampering with evidence, injuring public records and tampering with surveillance systems. He has been free on $40,000 bond since his arrest.

He pled not guilty in 12th Judicial District Court in January 2019.

Corner's trial on the charges was set to begin Jan. 11.

Small said the AG's decision "effectively ends the prosecution of former chief Corner."

The noted defense attorney said White neither shared his reasons for dismissing the charges, nor did Small ask for those reasons.

"Once he said he was dismissing the charges, that's all I needed to know," Small said. "I can say that from my evaluation of the evidence, it is the right decision and one I wholeheartedly agree with."

Small said he was confident in the outcome had the case gone to trial.

"Assistant Attorney General White is a very experienced and capable prosecutor," Small said, "but from my perspective the case was quite defensible. I went through a mountain of evidence to prepare for trial, and I am sure the prosecution would not have presented any surprises at trial. I knew who the witnesses would be and the weaknesses in their testimony."

The investigation into Corner's alleged malfeasance started shortly after he was defeated in his re-election bid.

New police chief Scott Ferguson asked the State Police to investigate issues concerning missing evidence and other issues with the department when he took office in July 2018. The State Police made its arrest in October of that year.

Corner was alleged to have allowed multiple pieces of evidence to be unsecured, misplaced and lost in the Bunkie Police Department’s building; failed to introduce certain items into the evidence room; mishandled a felony case file; failed to process traffic citations; tampered with the Bunkie Police Department’s surveillance system; and shredded official department files.

"My evaluation of this case led me to conclude rather early on that the charges against my client were simply not supported by evidence which a jury would find credible," Small said.