Reporter Phyllis Zorn and editor Eric Meyer said no laws were broken in their investigation of local restaurateur Kari Newell
The police chief who led the raid of a Kansas newspaper alleged in previously unreleased court documents that a reporter either impersonated someone else or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local business owner.
But reporter Phyllis Zorn, Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer and the newspaper’s attorney said on Sunday that no laws were broken when Zorn accessed a public state website for information on restaurant operator Kari Newell.
The raid carried out on 11 August and led by Marion police chief Gideon Cody brought international attention to the small central Kansas town that now finds itself at the center of a debate over press freedoms. Police seized computers, personal cellphones and a router from the newspaper, but all items were released on Wednesday after the county prosecutor concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to justify the action.
Late on Saturday, the Record’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes, provided copies of the affidavits used in the raid to the Associated Press and other news media. The documents had previously not been released. They showed that Zorn’s obtaining of Newell’s driving record was the driving force behind the raid.
The newspaper, acting on a tip, checked the public website of the Kansas department of revenue for the status of Newell’s driver’s license as it related to a 2008 conviction for drunk driving.
Cody wrote in the affidavit that the department or revenue told him that those who downloaded the information were Record reporter Phyllis Zorn and someone using the name “Kari Newell”.
