Louisiana Voice

Cory Porter is a candidate for New Iberia city marshal in the Nov. 13 election.

Problem is, he has CRS Syndrome. Cleaning it up just a bit, CRS means Can’t Remember Stuff.

In June 2019, less than a year after the New Iberia Police Department was reactivated, Porter was the subject of a complaint that resulted in a 17-page report that found Porter guilty of departmental policy violations of professional conduct and abuse of power while clearing him of intimidation and harassment charges.

It seems that Porter was taking online courses with Central Christian College, though it’s unclear if that was Central Christian College of Kansas of Central Christian College of the Bible in Missouri of even some other Central Christian College.

Either way, it just seems sort of wrong on several levels that Porter would seek help from fellow officers in writing essays, doing other homework assignments and taking exams in his name – at any Christian college. That’s generally considered cheating and only allowed at big-time college football programs where such activity is the norm.

But the complaint went a little further in asserting that in addition to soliciting the writing and testing skills of the other officers, who just happened to be female, Porter attempted to get one such officer, Det. Coquina Mitchell to attend a New Orleans Saints game with him. Mitchell said when she informed him that she didn’t date fellow officers, Porter told her he had fathered a child with another co-worker.

She said he also once demanded to know why she didn’t answer her home phone on one occasion when he called her and that he drove slowly past her house several times. On still another occasion, she said he was assisting with a traffic stop when Porter appeared at the scene and demanded that she leave with him because he had a class assignment due that night that she needed to finish.

Several other officers were interviewed in the internal investigation and, for the most part, corroborated Mitchell’s story – particularly the story of his demanding that she leave the scene of a traffic stop in order to complete his class assignment.

Porter, when interviewed by Capt. Seth Pellerin, denied asking her to attend the Saints game, contending that he had never even been to a Saints game. He also denied seeking a relationship with Mitchell and said he never asked Mitchell to help him with school work but that she volunteered her assistance.

Porter said he did drive in front of Mitchell’s house but it was for the purpose of surveilling a burglary suspect in the neighborhood.

He was unable to remember, however, just when she began her help although he did remember installing his class program on her computer. Nor did he remember ever phoning her or asking help on assignments from clerk Kristen Broussard even though Broussard had computer screen printouts of work she’d done for him. Porter also could not recall arriving at the traffic stop and demanding that Mitchell leave with him.

“I told Capt. Porter that this was a huge conflict of interest, having a subordinate of his do his online college courses,” Pellerin wrote in his June 21 report.  “Capt. Porter stated that he did not realize it at the time (probably couldn’t remember the regulations) but can see it now. Capt. Porter sated in all his years in law enforcement he has only tried to help people, including his co-workers.”

In his conclusion, Pellerin wrote, “After reviewing all the documentation and interviews, the alleged policy violations against Capt. Corey Porter are sustained. Capt. Porter violated New Iberia Police Department General Order 113 Professional Conduct and New Iberia Police Department General Order 115 Abuse of Power. After reading the policies to Capt. Porter, I asked him if he admits to violating the above-mentioned policies and he said yes.”

Pellerin wrote that he found no evidence that indicated Porter had romantic feelings for Mitchell. Nor did he feel that Porter was seeking retribution against Mitchell.

The Internal Affairs report became public during a court procedure during which Porter was impeached as a witness, a source told LouisianaVoice.

Nor is Porter the only candidate with a certain amount of political baggage.

During a recent forum, candidate Brett Lang was asked about his service with the Iberia Sheriff’s Office, and particularly whether or not the rumors floating around about him being on the Brady List were true.

The Brady List is part of the Brady Disclosure Doctrine, which requires that the prosecution disclose any and all evidence that is favorable to the defendant, also known as exculpatory evidence. The Brady List is a list kept by DAs containing the names of law enforcement officers who are known to have lied, coerced, mislead or withheld information during their scope of duty as a police officer.

The prosecution must make the defense aware if a particular officer played any part in the arrest investigation, handling of evidence etc. of the defendant’s case. This essentially means that any officer who is on the Brady List has no standing in court. The officer, for lack of a better term, is impeached. Though there may be no legal charges against them, his testimony is not tainted.

“As a former police officer, I know that a Law Enforcement Officer’s most important weapon is his word,” said an observer. “It is extremely concerning that Mr. Lang admitted to being on the Brady List. He also mentioned at the same meeting that he would have himself removed from the list, which, as far as I know, cannot be done, nor has he ever re-addressed being removed to by knowledge.”

There are three candidates for the Iberia City Marshal’s office: Porter, a Democrat; Lang, No Party, and Dickie Fremin, a Republican.