“Time TV”
—
Gideon Cody is accused of “knowingly” inducing a witness to withhold data in a felony case, the legal grievance stated.
Cody has not responded to “Time TV”’s request for remark.
The cost comes a 12 months after Cody allegedly ordered police to execute search warrants on the Marion County Document, the house of its writer Eric Meyer and the house of an area metropolis councilwoman on August 11, 2023.
The raid drew condemnation from dozens of reports organizations and press freedom advocates, together with “Time TV”, for its intrusiveness and First Modification rights considerations. Cody resigned from the Marion Police Division weeks after the raid, “Time TV” beforehand reported.
Sedgwick County District Lawyer Marc Bennett and Riley County Lawyer Barry Wilkerson final week filed a 124-page report by which prosecutors say they discovered possible trigger that Cody “dedicated the crime of obstruction of justice,” outlined beneath Kansas legislation as “knowingly or deliberately” inducing a “witness or informant to withhold or unreasonably delay” the manufacturing of testimony, data or paperwork.
Prosecutors didn’t elaborate on the character of the cost however stated it was associated to Cody’s textual content trade with native restaurant proprietor Kari Newell after the raid.
In an announcement obtained by “Time TV” Tuesday, Meyer famous that the legal grievance doesn’t deal with the raid itself however as an alternative focuses on an “alleged cover-up” involving efforts by Cody to have Newell delete textual content messages that they had exchanged after the raid.
On the time of the raids, the Marion County Sheriff’s workplace stated it was investigating “identification theft” and “illegal acts regarding computer systems” based mostly on the assumption that reporter Phyllis Zorn unlawfully obtained Newell’s driving information earlier than the paper printed a narrative about her.
“The actual decision of this case is more likely to are available in civil fits we and others have filed in federal court docket,” Meyer stated. “It’s vital for us that this case be resolved not with some kind of settlement however with an precise verdict.”
“Time TV”’s Amy Simonson, Eric Levenson, Whitney Wild and Jon Passantino contributed.
