Former police chief charged with witness interference after raid on Kansas newspaper

Copies of the Aug. 16 edition of the Marion County Record rest on a countertop in the newspaper office. Staffers pulled an all-nighter to get the newspaper out after their equipment was seized by law enforcement. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA, Kan. — A special prosecutor in court documents filed Tuesday says former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody “induced a witness to withhold information” in the days after Cody led a raid on a newspaper office, the publisher’s home and the home of a city councilwoman.

Special prosecutor Barry Wilkerson, of Riley County, charged Cody with interference with judicial process, a low-level felony, in Marion County District Court. If convicted, the presumed sentence would be probation.

Wilkerson and special prosecutor Marc Bennett, of Sedgwick County, announced last week they would file the charge against Cody. But they determined Cody and other officials didn’t break the law by planning and conducting an illegal and unconstitutional raid.

The prosecutors wrote that Cody, his officers, Sheriff Jeff Soyez and his deputies, Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents, County Attorney Joel Ensey and Magistrate Judge Laura Viar didn’t realize their “inadequacy” in accusing journalists and a political outcast of committing identity theft because they obtained Kari Newell’s driving record — a public document.

Newell wanted a liquor license for her restaurant, but her driving record showed she had a DUI and suspended driving license. Five federal lawsuits accuse Cody, with support from Mayor David Mayfield, of spearheading an investigation into Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn, publisher Eric Meyer and Councilwoman Ruth Herbel.

On Aug. 11, 2023, Cody led the raids of the newsroom, Herbel’s home, and the home where Meyer lived with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who co-owned the newspaper with her son. Body camera video shows Joan Meyer cursing at and confronting the officers in her home. She died the next day from a stress-induced heart attack.

Wilkerson and Bennett said in their report they would not hold police responsible for her death.

Cody resigned in October after KSHB-TV reported he had instructed Newell to delete text messages the two had exchanged. Wilkerson and Bennett’s report said Cody’s actions regarding text messages would provide the basis for a criminal charge.

The complaint filed Tuesday identifies 37 witnesses, including law enforcement, city leaders, journalists and Newell.

This story was first published by Kansas Reflector , a States Newsroom affiliate.