City officials in Marion, Kansas, have agreed to pay $235,000 to oust their former police chief in a federal lawsuit filed by former reporter Deb Gruver. marion county records. Last year, police raided the newspaper’s offices and confiscated computers, the newspaper’s file server and even personal cellphones. Police also raided the home of the newspaper’s owner. The raid came after local business owner Kari Newell admitted at a city council meeting that she continued driving after her license was revoked due to a DUI conviction. Newell accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining her driving record. The newspaper said it received a tip about drunken driving and corroborated the claims through public records, but decided not to publish the story and only reported the allegations after Newell raised them at a public meeting. But Chief Gideon Cody, who led the raid, claims there is evidence that the newspaper, one of its reporters and a city council member committed computer crimes to obtain Newell’s driving record. A local judge signed a warrant for his arrest, but the county prosecutor later withdrew the warrant. Gruver’s lawsuit is one of five federal lawsuits stemming from the raid, and she is still suing the Marion County Sheriff and the county prosecutor.
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