Special prosecutors are set to charge ex-Marion, Ks., Police Chief Gideon Cody with a low-level felony for his conduct after the raid he orchestrated last year on the Marion County Record and the residences of the newspaper's publisher and a councilwoman, The Kansas Reflector reports. The prosecutors also concluded that police — despite their misunderstanding of evidence, a rushed investigation, and faulty and unlawful search warrants — didn’t commit any crimes by investigating a baseless suspicion of identity theft or carrying out the raid. Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson and Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett released their conclusions in a 124-page report on Monday. The report clears Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn and editor Eric Meyer of wrongdoing. The prosecutors’ report, based on findings from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and Colorado Bureau of Investigation, details the small-town drama that precipitated Cody’s investigation, as well as his attempt to leverage KBI for support before and after the raids.
The report details how Kari Newell’s DUI record prompted the raid. Newell’s estranged husband, frustrated by divorce costs, sent her driving record to friend Pam Maag, who shared it with reporter Phyllis Zorn and Councilwoman Ruth Herbel. Maag thought the record was relevant to Newell’s liquor license request. Zorn verified the record through the Kansas Department of Revenue’s online database. Meyer confirmed the record to the police. Cody, an uncertified Kansas officer, enlisted officer Zach Hudlin to help due to his unfamiliarity with Kansas law. A report includes a transcript of a conversation between Hudlin and a revenue department representative about the agency’s online database, leading Hudlin to mistakenly believe that Zorn had committed multiple crimes by accessing public records. Cody emailed search warrant applications to County Attorney Joel Ensey, who was too busy to review them and delegated the task to an office manager. Cody gave the impression of KBI support for the warrants. Cody, who resigned after a report revealed he had instructed Newell to delete text messages, will face a felony charge for obstructing the judicial process.
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