Former police chief charged in Kansas newspaper raid that sparked outrage over press freedom
Prosecutors in Marion County charged former police chief with one felony count
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A former Kansas police chief who led the raid of a local newspaper last year was formally charged with one felony count of interfering with a judicial process on Monday for allegedly influencing a witness in an investigation.
Gideon Cody, the former Marion County Police Department chief, allegedly knowingly or intentionally swayed a witness in a non-violent felony case to withhold information last year.
The complaint, filed in Marion County, does not include specific information but alleges the incident occurred around the time Cody led a team of people to raid the Marion County Record offices and the home of its publisher.
Cody faced international backlash last year for carrying out an extensive raid on the local newspaper, the home of its publishers and home of a city council member, in what he claimed was part of an investigation into reporters illegally obtaining documents about a restaurant owner’s drunk driving incident.
The restaurant owner falsely claimed that reporters at the weekly newspaper illegally obtained sensitive government documents about her while investigating her as she was seeking a liquor license.
Over several hours, Cody and his team seized cell phones, computers, and other materials from the newspaper’s office. A former reporter was injured during the raid when Cody forceably removed a cell phone from her hand – she later settled a lawsuit with Cody for $235,000.
Officers also took materials from the publisher’s home where he lived with his 98-year-old mother. The elderly woman died the day after the raid – something the newspaper publisher attributes to the stress of the raid.
The search warrant Cody and his team used to obtain computers, cellphones and more from the Marion County Record’s offices was later determined to have “insufficient evidence” to warrant the search.
First Amendment advocates were outraged over the raid, claiming it created a chilling effect on the newspaper’s ability to publish information.
Cody resigned from the Marion Police Department less than two months after the raid amid mounting pressure.
Earlier this month, a report from special prosecutors who were appointed to oversee an investigation into the raid found there was no evidence the accused reporters committed criminal conduct. The reporters obtained documents through a confidential source.
It is unclear who is representing Cody in the criminal case at this time.