Officer receives leg injuries following Wichita chase; 2 arrested
24 August 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — After a search warrant for the Marion County Record was withdrawn and the seized items were returned, the newspaper’s attorney Bernie Rhodes says authorities still have data from the paper.
Rhodes says if it’s not resolved by Thursday, he’ll file to put the sheriff in contempt of court.
“The Sheriff’s failure to comply with the District Court’s order is inexcusable and I will not stand by and wait for you to choose to return my many calls,” a letter to Marion County counselor Bradley Jantz reads. “Unless you and I are able to come to a satisfactory agreement by the end of the day tomorrow, Thursday, August 24, 2023, on disposition of this—and any other item(s) not previously released and returned—I will file a motion to hold the Sheriff in contempt of court for his failure to comply with the District Court’s order.”
Rhodes claims he has made multiple attempts to talk to Sheriff Jeff Soyez with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, but he says he has not heard a response back.
The letter says a forensic examiner was dispatched after a district judge ordered the evidence in the search warrant be returned.
“That same day, Undersheriff Larry Starkey transferred custody of what he represented were the items seized to the examiner,” the letter reads.
The letter states both Starkey and the examiner sign a “Data Forensic Chain of Custody Form.” This form, attached below, shows the items that were seized and then returned. The examiner placed an X on one side of the line items — of which there are eight — and his initials on the other.
The documents attached above show the signatures of Starkey, along with the forensic investigator Jack Nevins, dated Aug. 16. 2023.
This document, however, is not the same one found on the Marion County District Court website. That document, which can be viewed by clicking the link, shows nine items without the forensic examiner’s initials.
Rhodes said in the letter both documents are signed by a Marion police officer and dated Aug. 11, 2023, but one has eight items and one has nine.
That ninth item reads “OS TRIAGE DIGITAL DATA.” Rhodes says the item appears to be a USB drive with OSForensics software from PassMark Software. It appears, according to Rhodes, “someone used this drive to copy or clone data from one or more computers owned by the Record.”
“While the apparent alteration of the inventory list raises serious questions, what is clear is that
Item 9 on the inventory posted by the Court has not been ‘released and returned,’ as the Court
ordered,” the letter states.
KSN has reached out to the KBI, Marion County counselor, and Marion Police Department requesting information on the missing computer equipment.
For more of KSN’s coverage on the Marion County Record, click here.