Two special prosecutors said Monday that they plan to file a criminal obstruction of justice charge against a former central Kansas police chief over his conduct following a raid last year on his town’s newspaper.
In an lengthy report summarizing the findings of their investigation, the special prosecutors, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett and Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson, note that the staff of the newspaper that was raided, the Marion County Record, committed no crimes.
It wasn’t clear whether they planned to charge former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody with a felony or a misdemeanor, and either is possible. The prosecutors also hadn’t filed their criminal case as of Monday. It could be days before they file it because they were working with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which stepped in at the request of its Kansas counterpart.
A question that might be dumb but I will ask it: why do prosecutors announce that a charge is coming? Do they have to do this or is this some courtesy thing?
They definitely don’t have to do this. Indictments and arrest warrants are typically sealed until they are executed.
When this happens to high profile public figures who are not likely flight risks, it’s relatively common to let the target know about the pending case before they’re in custody. It’s also common to negotiate an arranged surrender with the target’s lawyers.
The arranged surrenders benefit the cops because they don’t have to waste time looking for the perp, and it benefits the accused because they get a little time to get their affairs in order.
In this case, I think there’s some component of the prosecutor trying to publicize themselves.