On August 11, 2023, a former Kansas police chief involved in a raid on a local newspaper was formally charged with obstruction of justice.
Gideon Cody, who resigned from the Marion Police Department less than two months after the raid, is accused of inciting a witness to withhold information in a criminal case, according to a complaint filed Monday.
The indictment comes a year after raids on the Marion County Record’s offices and the homes of its publisher and co-owner Eric Meyer and City Councilwoman Ruth Herbel.
Meyer’s 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, co-owner of the newspaper, lives with him and was at home during the raid. She collapsed and died the day after the raid, and the mayor blamed her death on the stress of the raid.
According to previously released court documents, Cody used his five-member force and the assistance of Marion County sheriff’s deputies to initiate a warrant-based search based on his belief that a reporter from the Record had accessed the restaurant owner’s driving records and committed identity theft. A lawyer of paper.
The newspaper said the test was unfair, and its reporter, Phyllis Zorn, used the state Department of Revenue’s online search engine to find the driver’s record of restaurant owner Kari Newell.
The newspaper began looking into Newell’s driving history after receiving a tip that he had been convicted of a DUI in 2008. The newspaper said it wanted to know whether the conviction would prevent him from obtaining a liquor license.
Herbal had the same tip about Newell’s DUI.
However, Marion County Prosecutor Joel Enzi withdrew the search warrants after determining that there was “insufficient evidence to establish a legally sufficient connection between this allegation and the locations searched and the items seized.” He asked the law enforcement officials to immediately return the seized items.
Eric Meyer said computers, his cell phone and his home internet router were seized during the raid. Herbel said his computer and phone were taken.
Two special prosecutors in the case had last week announced plans to collect Rs. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett and Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson said in a 124-page report that the newspaper’s employees committed no wrongdoing.
Since the raid, several lawsuits have been filed against Cody, the city, its former mayor and other government officials.
Cody could not be reached at listed phone numbers Tuesday.
