Last year, former Marion, Kansas police chief Gideon Cody led a raid on the Marion County Record newspaper stemming from accusations of identity theft regarding how they obtained information for a story. Cody is now facing a felony charge for obstruction of justice after allegedly persuading a witness to withhold information from investigators which impeded the probe into Cody’s own actions. The raid and subsequent investigations sparked national conversations about journalistic rights and freedom of the press in the U.S, leading to a cascade of federal lawsuits against Cody for his conduct.
A detailed 124-page report authored by special prosecutors Barry Wilkerson and Marc Bennett was released, scrutinizing the initial police inquiry into the newspaper and the complex circumstances surrounding the case. The report concluded that while there was no evidence of criminal activity on the part of the police, reporters, or anyone connected to the story or raid under Kansas law, some of Cody’s actions post-raid did obstruct the subsequent state investigation. Cody was accused of instructing a business owner, Kari Newell, to delete text messages exchanged after the raid, which was determined to be illegal interference with the investigation.
Marion City Administrator Brogan Jones received information that Cody had instructed Newell to delete messages following the search warrants on the newspaper and the publisher’s home in August. Cody was placed on administrative leave by the mayor and later resigned in October. While the prosecutors did not disclose the contents of the messages or the specifics of Cody’s obstruction, they found probable cause to charge him with obstruction of justice over the text messaging issue. The nature of the conduct for which Cody was charged allegedly occurred between August 11 and August 17 of the previous year.
Cody had obtained search warrants on the newspaper, the home of its publisher Eric Meyer, and the residence of Marion City Council Member Ruth Herbel in response to allegations that journalists had obtained Newell’s driver’s license records. The journalists had been following a tip suggesting irregularities in her record due to a previous DUI. Ultimately, they decided not to pursue a story on the matter due to concerns over the source of the information and its relevance to a sensitive personal situation. Despite Cody’s claims of potential law-breaking by the publisher and reporter, the subsequent raids on the newspaper were met with scrutiny.
During the raids, which were captured on body camera footage, Meyer’s mother and co-owner of the newspaper, Joan Meyer, was visibly distressed and passed away soon after. Her son attributed her death to the stress caused by the police raid, further highlighting the emotional toll of the incident. The case involving Cody and the raid on the Marion County Record sheds light on the complexities of law enforcement’s interactions with the media and the repercussions of potentially overstepping legal boundaries in such situations. The legal proceedings against Cody underscore the importance of upholding journalistic rights and transparency in the pursuit of justice.
