Ex-chief’s lawyers ask out of raid case
Staff writer
A hearing next week will determine whether Sal Intagliata and Audra Asher of Triad Legal can withdraw from defending former Marion police chief Gideon Cody.
In a motion filed Wednesday in district court, the attorneys wrote that an “actual conflict of interest” and a breakdown in attorney-client communication had undermined their ability to effectively represent Cody.
They cited as precedent a rule that a lawyer can withdraw when a client “insists upon pursuing an objective that the lawyer considers repugnant or imprudent.”
“A trial court is required to grant a motion to withdraw upon a showing of irreconcilable conflict between a defendant and his or her attorney,” they wrote.
Cody is charged with one count of interfering with a judicial proceeding by inducing a witness to withhold or delay information after Cody conducted a now-disavowed raid on the Record newsroom and two Marion homes in August of 2023.
Cody’s five-day jury trial is scheduled to begin more than three years later — on Aug. 24, 2026 — but could be delayed by the attorneys’ request, which will be heard in a Zoom conference at 2 p.m. Wednesday by Judge Ryan Rosauer.
Cody’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment, but special prosecutor Marc Bennett, Sedgwick County’s district attorney, did.
“Defense counsel filed the motion to withdraw as counsel in the case,” Bennett replied in a written statement. “A hearing has been set to allow the judge the opportunity to review the motion and rule on the merits. What comes next will be determined by the resolution of the motion.”
Under Kansas sentencing guidelines, Cody probably would face a sentence of only probation if convicted of the charge.