Phyllis Zorn, the reporter whose acts of journalism served as an excuse for the August 2023 police raid of the Marion County Record, will get $850,000 from the city of Marion to settle her federal lawsuit over the raid.
A handful of county-level officials who were involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor.
Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody probably committed a felony crime when he told a witness to delete text messages they exchanged before, during and after he led raids on a newspaper office and the publisher’s home, a district judge ruled.
Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody returned Monday to the town where he raided a newspaper to face a dozen journalists along with a felony charge for his actions after the raid.
One of the special prosecutors tasked with reviewing the actions of law enforcement officers who raided the Marion County Record says more details will become public as criminal and civil cases proceed.
A special prosecutor in court documents filed Tuesday says former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody “induced a witness to withhold information” in the days after Cody led a raid on a newspaper office, the publisher’s home and the home of a city councilwoman.
Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer began speaking out about the police raid of his home and office before the officers could even retreat to their celebratory pizza party. He said it never entered his mind to keep quiet.
Details of messy relationships in the small town of Marion, paired with the inner workings of a corrupt local government, have painted a picture that’s complicated in the year since police raided the local newspaper’s office.
Special prosecutors plan to charge former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody with a low-level felony for his actions following the raid he led last year on the Marion County Record and the homes of the newspaper publisher and a councilwoman.
The magistrate who authorized a police raid on the Marion County Record escaped discipline by making claims that contradict statements in lawsuits about how the search warrants arrived in front of her and whether the police chief swore they were true before she signed them.
