Former police chief slapped with felony after spearheading controversial raids on Kansas newspaper owner



A former police chief who once apparently professed that his department would be "vindicated" for conducting raids on the home and office of a small-town newspaper owner in Kansas has now been charged with a felony in connection with those raids.

Gideon Cody is the former police chief of Marion, Kansas, a city of fewer than 2,000 residents about 60 miles north of Wichita. A year ago, he led raids on the office of the Marion County Record and the home of its owner, Eric Meyer.

Now, Cody has been charged with felony obstruction of justice in connection with those raids after he allegedly asked a female business owner and potential witness to delete text messages that may have persuaded investigators to believe they had a romantic, rather than strictly professional, relationship.

Last August, Cody secured search warrants from Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar to seize computers, cell phones, digital communications, servers, hard drives, and all documents and records connected with Kari Newell, a Marion resident with a prior DUI conviction who may have previously driven on a suspended license but who nonetheless was trying to get a liquor license for her business, as Blaze News previously reported.

'We want the whole story. We don’t want part of it.'

At the time, Newell slammed Meyer and the Record, claiming that they had uncovered the information about her past through "illegal" means. Meyer admitted that he received a tip about Newell's past but didn't print a story about it because he feared Newell's estranged husband had leaked the information in hopes of sabotaging his wife's efforts to obtain a liquor license.

Newell's information was also a matter of public record, Meyer indicated.

As soon as word about the raids broke, critics from across the country immediately decried the apparent attack on the press protections provided by the First Amendment.

All five members of the Marion Police Department, including Cody, as well as two sheriff's deputies reportedly participated in the raids on the Marion County Record and Meyer's home.

Meyer's 98-year-old mother and co-owner of the Record, Joan Meyer, who was at Meyer's home while officers executed the search warrant, died of a heart attack the day after the raids.

Footage from the raids further showed that Cody apparently seized the opportunity to peek at the files Meyer and his outlet kept about him.

Despite the appearance of impropriety, a statement from Marion PD, issued shortly after the raids and ostensibly written by Cody, insisted the raids would eventually be "vindicated."

Special prosecutors assigned to investigate the incident ultimately disagreed. In a 124-page report released earlier this month, prosecutors instead cleared Meyer, concluding that Meyer had not committed any crime in investigating Newell's past.

Furthermore, prosecutors alleged that Cody conducted an "inadequate investigation" that led him to provide Judge Viar with faulty predicates for the search warrants associated with the raids. However, they stopped short of accusing Cody of deliberately misleading the judge.

Cody, who resigned from the Marion Police Department in October, now faces what KSHB categorized as a "severity level 8 nonperson felony." If convicted, he could serve up to 23 months behind bars, though he has no prior criminal record, making the maximum sentence unlikely.

District Court Judge Ryan Rosauer has been assigned to preside over Cody's case. When Cody is next expected to appear in court is unclear.

And now, Meyer is the one celebrating vindication. "We are gratified that we have finally, officially been vindicated," he told VOA News.

Still, Meyer believes that Cody has been scapegoated for a debacle perpetrated by several officials and agencies. "We want the whole story. We don’t want part of it," Meyer claimed.

"We’re just being basic journalists here."

Meyer has previously filed multiple lawsuits in connection with the raids, including a wrongful death suit, as Blaze News previously reported. He estimated that the damages could exceed $10 million, a seemingly insurmountable sum for a city with an overall annual budget of just $9.5 million.

"The last thing we want is to bankrupt the city or county," Meyer said after filing the first lawsuit back in April, "but we have a duty to democracy and to countless news organizations and citizens nationwide to challenge such malicious and wanton violations of the First and Fourth Amendments and federal laws limiting newsroom searches."

Special prosecutors stated that officers conducting the raids committed no "gross deviation" of protocol regarding executing search warrants.

Blaze News reached out to Meyer and the Record for comment but did not receive a response.

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Video shows 98-year-old Kansas newspaper owner giving cops hell for 'Hitler tactics' during raid, just hours before her death



Police and sheriff's deputies in Marion, Kansas, raided the office of a local newspaper as well as the home of its co-owners, Eric Meyer and his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, on Aug. 11. The elderly woman died of a heart attack the following day.

Before her summons to heaven, the elderly woman made sure to give the raiders hell, which was captured on camera.

What's the background?

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody submitted three search warrant applications earlier this month, alleging a Marion County Record reporter illegally obtained Kansas Department of Revenue information concerning Kari Newell.

Newell is a local restaurateur who lost her driver's license due to a 2008 DUI and is seeking a liquor license for her establishment, according to the Kansas City Star.

TheBlaze previously reported that the Marion County Record, the Meyers' paper, was looking into Newell's past, having received a confidential tip concerning her DUI.

Bernie Rhodes, an attorney for the newspaper, suggested that the reporter had been provided with a copy of Newell's driving record, then used a public website to verify the information.

In the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant, Chief Cody claimed, "Downloading the document involved either impersonating the victim or lying about the reasons why the record was being sought," reported the Daily Beast.

Eric Meyer indicated he had not run the story because he suspected that Newell's estranged husband might have leaked the information in an attempt to hamper her efforts to obtain a liquor license.

"We thought we were being set up," said Meyer, who subsequently informed police.

Following Newell's public claim that the Record had obtained information about her past illegally, the paper then published its own version of events the day before the raid, hoping to "set the record straight."

The next morning at 9 a.m., Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed a search warrant, authorizing cops to seize computers, cell phones, digital communications, servers, hard drives, and any documents connected to Newell.

While the alleged identity theft was the given reason behind the raid, some suspect Cody may have had an ulterior motive.

Chief Cody formerly worked for the Kansas City Police Department. Facing a hostile work complaint and threat of demotion, he reportedly left the force and assumed a post at the MPD in April.

According to Eric Meyer, the Record was recently investigating Cody's background and time in Kansas City. The corresponding information was allegedly stored on computers targeted in the raid.

Meyer's last stand

Video has emerged showing Joan Meyer standing tall with the aid of her walker, dressing down police officers while they searched her residence.

"Don't you touch any of that stuff," says Meyer, as officers rifle through her belongings. "This is my house! ... You a**hole."

At one point, Meyer confronts an officer, asking him point-blank, "Did your mother love you? Did you ever love your mother?"

When asked how many computers were in the house, she responds, "I'm not gonna tell you."

Before she died, Joan Meyer claimed, "These are Hitler tactics, and something has to be done."

Her son, Eric Meyer, suggested police had either been "malicious or incompetent."

Search of 98-year-old newspaper co-owner Joan Meyer's house that contributed to her deathyoutu.be

Meyer's account of the raid is detailed in the coroner's report, which notes it was "extremely upsetting to Joan and caused her to remain angry and upset throughout the day and night," reported the Star.

The 98-year-old stayed up until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. the next morning before going to bed. When she finally awoke, around 2 p.m., she reported feeling dizzy and unwell.

Shortly thereafter, she stop talking mid-sentence, then stopped responding altogether, prompting her son to call 911 and perform CPR.

Joan Meyer was pronounced dead at 3 p.m. on Aug. 12. Her funeral was held on Saturday.

The Record indicated she had been "otherwise in good health for her age" but was "stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief," reported the Wrap.

Wrongful death and insufficient evidence

The search warrants were withdrawn on Aug. 16, just days after Meyer's passing.

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey, whose brother owns the building housing Newell's restaurant, stated there had been "insufficient evidence" to establish a "legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized."

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has since taken over the case.

Rhodes, the attorney for the Record, told the Star, "We have stopped the hemorrhaging. ... But it does nothing about taking care of the damage that has already occurred from the violation of the First Amendment in the first place."

Whereas Rhodes contends the raid was illegal, Cody has defended sending his five officers to confiscate the journalists' belongings, reported the Star.

Rhodes has indicated, "We are exploring all options, including a wrongful death claim."

The Marion County Record is also planning to file a federal lawsuit against the city.

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