The Marion County attorney said his review found „insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.“
The prosecutor in Marion County, Kansas, said Wednesday that police should return all seized material to a in a case that has drawn national scrutiny of press freedom.
Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said in a news release reviewed by CBS News that his review of police seizures from the Marion County Record found „insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.“
„As a result, I have submitted a proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized. I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property,“ Ensey said.
Police raids on Friday of the newspaper’s offices, and the home of editor and publisher Eric Meyer put the paper and the local police at the center of a national debate about press freedom, with watchdog groups condemning the police actions. The attention continued Wednesday — with TV and print reporters joining the conversation in what is normally a quiet community of about 1,900 residents.
The raids — which the publisher believes were carried out because the newspaper was investigating the police chief’s background — put Meyer and his staff in a difficult position. Because their computers were seized, they were forced to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials. Meyer also blamed stress from the raid at his home on the death Saturday of his 98-year-old mother, Joan, the paper’s co-owner.
