Marion County Record reporter sues police chief, alleging newspaper raid was retaliation

The August 11 raid was ostensibly undertaken under the pretense that a reporter committed identity theft by accessing public records on a public website. A new lawsuit from veteran journalist Deb Gruver contends that the Marion Police Chief's real motivation was to punish the newspaper for its investigations.
Police Chief Gideon Cody arrived at the Marion County Record and handed a copy of a search warrant to Deb Gruver, the veteran reporter who had questioned him about alleged misconduct at his previous job.

As Gruver read the search warrant, she told Cody she needed to call her publisher and editor, Eric Meyer. The police chief, who was ostensibly investigating another reporter’s computer use, snatched the phone out of Gruver’s hand.

The scene is recounted in a lawsuit Gruver filed Wednesday in federal court that says Cody had no legal basis for taking her personal cellphone. She is seeking damages for “emotional distress, mental anguish and physical injury” as a result of Cody’s “malicious and recklessly indifferent violation” of her First Amendment free press rights and Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.