Former police chief charged with obstruction after newsroom raid

A special prosecutor in Kansas filed a felony interference with a judicial process charge against ex-Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody on Monday. The state accused Cody of inducing a witness to withhold information after he raided the office of a local newspaper, The Marion County Record, along with the home of its owners last August. One of the owners, 98-year-old Joan Meyer, died of a heart attack the day after the raid. Her son and paper co-owner, Eric Meyer, claimed the stress of the raid triggered the pulmonary event. Marion Police came under fire for allegedly violating the paper’s constitutional rights despite obtaining search warrants.

What kind of witness tampering is Cody accused of? The state alleged that Cody intentionally convinced a witness to withhold information during a criminal investigation. Special prosecutors released a 124-page report last week detailing events and circumstances leading up to, during, and after the search. The investigation found probable cause that Cody obstructed the judicial process but did not detail the particulars of the situation.

Dig deeper: Read Johanna Huebscher’s report on dozens of media groups condemning the raid.