Former chief wants charge dismissed
Staff writer
Claiming insufficient evidence of a crime and lack of probable cause, a lawyer for former Marion police chief Gideon Cody filed a motion Friday asking that a charge of interference with judicial process be dismissed.
Wichita lawyer Brian White’s first argument is that prosecutor Barry Wilkerson didn’t file a “verified written statement signed by a county attorney or other authorized representative of the state of Kansas presented to the Court, which charges the commission of a crime.”
White alleged that no court documents cite facts constituting the crime charged but rather provide a general timeframe for the alleged conduct.
“The state did not proffer an affidavit of probable cause to support the complaint/information,” White wrote. “Instead, three days after releasing a 124-page press release, the state requested and received an ex parte hearing … to purportedly establish probable cause. … At this hearing, the state called one witness, agent John Zamora from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations. In total, there is less than 10 pages of actual testimony.”
White wrote that an exhibit given to District Judge Ryan Rosauer during the hearing, then given back to Wilkerson, had not been produced by the state.
He also wrote that Zamora’s testimony fails to support any of the necessary findings:
- That a felony criminal proceeding or investigation was ongoing when Cody acted as alleged.
- That Cody acted intentionally in response to this investigation.
- That anyone conducting a criminal investigation ever asked restaurant owner Kari Newell to produce texts Cody is accused of asking her to delete.
White contends the complaint contains no allegation that Cody induced Newell to delay producing anything.