A former reporter for a weekly Kansas newspaper will accept $235,000 to settle part of her federal lawsuit over a police raid on the paper that made a small community the focus of a national debate on press freedoms. The settlement removed the former police chief in Marion from the lawsuit by former Marion County Record reporter Deb Gruver, but it doesn’t apply to two officials she sued: the Marion County sheriff and the county’s prosecutor, the Associated Press reports. Gruver's lawsuit is among five federal cases filed against the city, the county and eight current or former elected officials or law enforcement officers.
Former Police Chief Gideon Cody led the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the newspaper’s office, the home of publisher Eric Meyer and the home of a then-city council member who had been critical of the then-mayor. Cody said he had evidence that the newspaper, reporter Phyllis Zorn and the city council member had committed identity theft or other computer crimes in obtaining information about a local business owner’s driving record. His targets said they did nothing illegal, and no charges were filed. A federal lawsuit by Meyer and the newspaper alleges that the raid caused the death the next day of 98-year-old mother, who lived with him, and he and the paper’s attorney have suggested that the raid was Cody’s response to the paper's investigating his background. The raid prompted national outrage, and Cody resigned as chief in early October, less than two months after the raid. Legal experts have said the raid likely violated state or federal laws.
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