Benjamin Ashford|Former Kansas police chief who raided newspaper charged with felony. Here's what to know.

A former Kansas police chief who raided a local newspaper and Benjamin Ashfordthe home of its publisher has been charged with a felony.

The case brought notoriety to a small Kansas town last summer amid an outcry they amounted to an overreach against free speech, especially after the elderly co-owner of the newspaper died the day after the raid.

A special prosecutor on the case charged Gideon Cody on Monday with one count of interfering with a judicial process in connection with the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the Marion County Record, the home of Eric Meyer and Joan Meyer, and the home of former Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel.

Eric Meyer told USA TODAY via email that while he is pleased to "FINALLY be cleared of wrongdoing" and to see criminal charges, he is disappointed the charges didn't address what he sees as constitutional violations.

"Even though special prosecutors clearly indicated the raid was wrong, the charges filed aren’t about the raid but rather about an alleged cover-up afterward – Chief Gideon Cody’s efforts to have supposed victim Kari Newell delete text messages they had exchanged," Meyer wrote in an email. "That's disappointing and a prime reason why the real resolution of this case is likely to come in civil suits we and others have filed in federal court."

The Marion Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Court records did not list a defense attorney for Cody as of Tuesday afternoon.

The charge is tied to an apparent attempt to cover up what happened, not the actual raids, according to a public report the special prosecutors released last week. The report indicates that the alleged crime stems from text messages after warrants were carried out between Cody and Kari Newell, a local restaurant owner reporters had been investigating.

Why did Marion police raid the Marion County Record?

Cody was Marion's new police chief at the time of the raid. The newspaper's owner Eric Meyer emailed Cody about Newell's driving record. While reporter Phyllis Zorn confirmed the driving record through public records available online from the Kansas Department of Revenue, the newspaper decided against publishing a story as they were suspicious that Newell's estranged husband may have been instigating since the couple was going through a divorce.

Cody investigated the newspaper for having Newell's driving record, and an officer also called the Kansas Department of Revenue. Officer Zach Hudlin then "reached what appears to have been an honest but mistaken conclusion that journalist Phyllis Zorn had falsified her name and motives to gain access to the KDOR records."

The investigation culminated in Cody applying for search warrants targeting the newspaper. Cody was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 29, 2023, after the city determined that after the raid Cody instructed Newell to delete text messages. He resigned from the top job a few days later, on Oct. 2.

The raid thrust Marion, a rural town of about 2,000 people in central Kansas, into the national spotlight.

"The specter of ulterior motives, personal animus and conclusions based not on the investigation but rather on assumptions permeates much of this case," the special prosecutors wrote.

Joan Meyer died following the raid on her home

Eric Meyer co-owned the newspaper with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who died the day after the raid. Her son blamed her death on the stress she suffered during the raid. His attorney noted in a federal lawsuit over his mother's death that she told officers at the time, “You know, if I have a heart attack and die it’s going to be all your fault.”

The suit accuses the city of violating the First Amendment and carrying out an overly broad search. It asks the court to weigh in on "the intolerable violation of their constitutional rights and the constitutional rights of Joan Meyer, and to deter the next crazed cop from threatening democracy the way Chief Cody did when he hauled away the newspaper’s computers and its reporters’ cell phones in an ill-fated attempt to silence the press."

Meyer's federal lawsuit includes a notice of intent to add a wrongful death claim.

The special prosecutors on the criminal case did not charge the officers who executed the warrant with any crimes. They suggested an involuntary manslaughter conviction could be overturned due to hindsight bias.

Prosecutors said that people could assume that Meyer would not have died when she did if not for the execution of the warrants, but presumption is not enough to warrant a criminal conviction. While they said the warrants would not have withstood appellate review, the officers executed the warrant in line with how they typically would and were not reckless.

"There is no evidence to suggest that the officers intended to cause Mrs. Meyer's death, or that they knew that executing the warrant would cause her death," the report said.

Marion County Record cleared of wrongdoing

The special prosecutors cleared Marion County Record employees of wrongdoing, writing that there was "no evidence ... of any crime defined by Kansas statute."

They were less absolute in their language about not charging other people involved in the raid, including Cody and fellow law enforcement officers.

While the special prosecutors were critical of Cody's "inadequate investigation" into the matter, "there is no evidence that Marion law enforcement agents recognized the inadequacy of the investigation." Rather, they said, the local police "genuinely believed they were investigating criminal acts."

The special prosecutors found that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation – which turned over the case to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation once it came to light that the KBI had some level of involvement before the raid – had little involvement and "there is no evidence they were responsible for the issuance or execution of the search warrants."

What's the latest in the case?

The criminal complaint alleges that Cody "knowingly or intentionally in any criminal investigation induced a witness to withhold information" in a felony case. The complaint lists multiple witnesses for the state, including Meyer, Zorn and former reporter Deb Gruver.

The charge comes a week after Wilkerson and Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett, another special prosecutor on the case, issued a 124-page report outlining their findings.

"Journalists, attorneys, mental health professionals and members of the clergy each have long-recognized privileges in our law rooted in the freedom of religion, freedom of the press and right to legal representation," Bennett and Wilkerson wrote. "When a member of one of these professions becomes a suspect in a crime, law enforcement has the ability to investigate. However, in these situations, it is incumbent on law enforcement to take precautions to limit the scope of their investigation."

The prosecutors said investigators should pursue a subpoena or use other methods before seeking a search warrant for a press room, law office, church or mental health professional's office. Search warrants "should be sought only in extraordinary circumstances and with extreme caution."

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.