First Lawsuit Filed Over Raid Of Small Town Kansas Newspaper

Journalism

from the FAFO-theory-being-put-into-practice dept

Shocking the conscience. That’s the legal term for government actions that are so far from acceptable no one, not even cop-friendly courts, can deem them acceptable.

A small Kansas PD — the one presiding over the town of Marion — managed to shock the national conscience by raiding the office of the Marion County Record, along with the local paper’s co-owner’s home. The co-owner, 98-year-old Joan Meyer, died the day after protesting the presence of multiple officers in her home during this string of raids that also swept up the vice-mayor of the town of 1,900.

The alleged criminal acts didn’t seem to be supported by much in the way of probable cause. Someone (apparently the estranged ex-husband) supplied information to the small paper about business owner Kari Newell’s arrest for driving under the influence as well as driving without a license. Newell was currently seeking approval for a liquor license as well as in the midst of a messy divorce.

The newspaper verified the information using an outside source. It informed the police of the information it had been given. And, finally, it chose to spike the story rather than be used as a pawn in divorce proceedings.

For these actions, it was raided by Marion County PD officers. The alleged crimes were identity fraud and an extremely vague “using a computer during a crime” statute. The paper was also investigating the current police chief (Gideon Cody), digging into his past history of misconduct. Whether or not this played a part in the debacle that followed remains to be seen. Added into the mix was the judge herself (Laura Viar), who had her own history of driving drunk and who had decided the probable cause-free affidavit was worthy of her approval.

Whatever the case, it was soon confirmed the paper used a non-state source to verify Newell’s arrest, contrary to the assertions of law enforcement, which had assumed otherwise to support its “identity fraud” claims. Shortly thereafter, the local prosecutor issued a letter withdrawing the warrant for lack of probable cause. The county attorney also asked the court to demand the PD return the seized items, which included computers (and a router) from the deceased Joan Meyer’s home, as well as the newspaper’s server and devices/computers owned/used by the paper’s employees.

More court orders have arrived. The AP reports law enforcement has (finally) been ordered to return seized devices and destroy any copies that may have been made while in its possession.

Kansas authorities must destroy all electronic copies they made of a small newspaper’s files when police raided its office this month, a judge ordered Tuesday, nearly two weeks after computers and cellphones seized in the search were returned.

[…]

The local prosecutor and sheriff agreed investigators shouldn’t keep that evidence, but [Marion County Record attorney Bernie] Rhodes insisted on a court order to document it. It won’t be clear what files were on the drive until Rhodes gets a copy.

That takes care of one part of this mess… at least if you trust the misbehaving police department to actually destroy all the copied data in its possession. It hasn’t exactly been forthcoming or trustworthy to this point, so perhaps it might be advisable for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (which is performing its own investigation of these raids) to follow up on the ordered data destruction.

While the PD has been forced into compliance, the so-called leadership of the town seems to believe it’s the general public that’s to blame for the national disgrace he’s now presiding over.

Marion Mayor David Mayfield says he’s not “sure exactly what they did wrong” when the Marion police department executed search warrants at a newspaper office and two homes for evidence of computer crimes.

And he says if there was a problem with the search warrants, the county attorney or judge should have rejected them beforehand.

“I mean, everybody’s looking at Marion like we’re a bunch of hicks now,” Mayfield told The Eagle recently in his first extensive interview since the raids. “And the police department just did what the judge allowed them to do.”

Whoa. Let’s get a couple of things straight, Mayor Good Faith Exception. Raiding newspaper offices is never a good idea, no matter where it happens, and no matter what paperwork cops might have obtained to “justify” it. This is America, not some tinpot autocracy where raiding the free press is considered to just be a natural part of everyday existence.

Second, no one’s looking at the newspaper or its readers or uninvolved residents like they’re a “bunch of hicks.” But they’re damn sure looking at the PD and idiots offering up ridiculous defenses of these raids as a “bunch of hicks.” There’s a difference. You’re being besmirched. And, given this “defense” of the PD, you deserve it, as do the people you’re defending.

And that finally brings us to the matter mentioned in the headline. The first of what is sure to be many lawsuits has been filed. Marion County Record reporter Deb Gruver, whose phone was seized during the raid of the paper’s officers, has fired the initial litigation salvo, as Jessica McMaster reports for KSHB.

[Police Chief Gideon] Cody claimed in an affidavit Phyllis Zorn, reporter with Marion County Record, committed identity theft and engaged in illegal acts concerning computers by downloading Newell’s driving record.

[…]

[Newspaper co-owner] Eric Meyer said Gruver had nothing to do with the story on Newell.

Despite that, Gruver’s personal cellphone was taken during the raid.

“Chief Cody first handed Ms. Gruver the Warrant when he arrived, and as she began to read it, she began to access her personal cellular phone – telling Chief Cody that she needed to call Eric Meyer. Chief Cody responded by reaching over the papers and snatching the phone out of her hand.”

Not only did the PD not have the probable cause needed to raid the paper’s offices, Chief Cody definitely didn’t have the probable cause to seize the phone of a reporter uninvolved with the (never-published) story at the center of the case.

However (and this could prove interesting depending on where discovery goes), Gruver was involved in the investigation into Chief Cody’s misconduct history — something that appears to have been dead-ended by the Kansas City PD’s refusal to release Cody’s personnel records.

That fact is noted in her lawsuit [PDF] which makes all the obvious points about this raid, namely that nothing about it (the raid, the seizure of her phone, etc.) was supported by probable cause, something admitted by the prosecutor when spiking the warrant.

It also highlights a number of other interesting facets to this case, which imply there’s a bit of a conspiracy behind the raid of the paper (and two residences) that culminated in this particular seizure of the reporter’s phone and this particular lawsuit. Listed in the allegations: Kari Newell’s attempt to silence reporting about her DUI and lack of valid license, allegations the PD had given Newell a free pass on previous traffic violations, Chief Cody’s personal interactions with Gruver while she investigated his past misconduct, and the fact that the only liquor license controlled by Newell was actually in the name of the wife of the county prosecutor.

Juicy.

We’ll see where this goes but there’s no way it ends well for the Marion County PD. Its warrant has already been rejected by the prosecutor Chief Cody and his officers apparently presumed would wholeheartedly support being cowed into silence with a days-worth of rights violations. What no one appeared to consider is the possibility this might spread beyond the borders of the small town. But it’s made national headlines for several days straight. And that means it’s too big for this small town to ignore.

Filed Under: 1st amendment, david mayfield, eric meyer, gideon cody, joan meyer, journalism, kansas, kari newell, marion county, marion county pd
Companies: marion county record