Court Cases

Frank Cairo, an award-winning Spanish language TV host, was arrested in Miami yesterday for allegedly stealing his neighbors’ patio furniture.

Two men were caught on a surveillance camera stealing several pieces of outdoor furniture from a screened-in patio in Doral, FL, on April 29. The owners of the residence were able to identify Cairo from the video. Cairo, whose real name is Ivan Valdes, now claims “there is a story” behind the video, despite the fact that he left a note on the neighbors’ door saying he had the furniture after he was identified (he claims he thought the house was abandoned, according to Miami’s WSVN).

Cairo told reporters outside the Doral police station yesterday that he had no need to steal “two chairs from Kmart” because he makes upwards of half a million dollars a year. TVSpy has the video.

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Lilia Luciano, a Miami-based NBC News correspondent, is no longer working for the network, TVNewser has learned.

Luciano last reported for NBC News March 31. Until that point, she had been reporting mainly on the Trayvon Martin story. Sources tell TVNewser Luciano’s dismissal came after an investigation which also led to the firing of a seasoned NBC News producer over a similar, misleading edit. In a story for the “Today” show on March 20, Luciano used part of the George Zimmerman 911 call in which an entire phrase (italicized below) was taken from a later part of the conversation:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good or on drugs or something. He’s got his hand in his waistband. And he’s a black male.
Dispatcher: Are you following him?
Zimmerman: Yeah.
Dispatcher: Okay, we don’t need you to do that.

A week later, on March 27, another correspondent, Ron Allen used similar audio from that 911 call in his story, leaving out the dispatcher’s follow-up question.

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.

As we’ve reported, here’s how the conversation actually happened:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.
Dispatcher: OK, and this guy — is he white, black, or Hispanic?
Zimmerman: He looks black.

That edit resulted in the dismissal of the NBC News Miami producer. NBC News confirms with TVNewser that Luciano is no longer with the network. She joined NBC News from Univision just 18 months ago.

Luciano is the third NBC employee to have lost their job over this story. As TVSpy reported last week, WTVJ reporter Jeff Burnside was fired for a similar circumstance.

Breaking: Comcast subscribers should expect to see Bloomberg TV next to Fox News, CNN and CNBC in the coming weeks.

The FCC has found in Bloomberg’s favor in its long-running complaint with Comcast. In case you aren’t up to speed: Bloomberg argued to the FCC that–as part of its deal to acquire NBCUniversal– Comcast promised to place “independent” news networks in the same channel “neighborhoods” as the major TV news channels.

Today, the FCC said that yes, Comcast must place Bloomberg TV in the same neighborhoods as its competitors like CNBC and Fox Business, as well as general news channels like CNN or Fox News (read the full FCC decision after the jump). If a Comcast region has multiple news “neighborhoods,” then Bloomberg must be placed in one of them.

Comcast says it “respectfully disagree[s]” with the decision, and that it will immediately file an appeal. Comcast’s full statement is after the jump.

Theoretically, the decision could open the floodgates for lawsuits from other independent programmers such as Current TV, Al Jazeera or BBC World News, which will argue that they too deserve to be placed in those neighborhoods.  FBN and similar networks would not be eligible because they are associated with larger media companies. The FCC attempted to somewhat undercut potential lawsuits by strictly defining a news channel as such in the decision:

Based on the definition of “independent news channel”58 and the phrasing of the news neighborhooding condition, we conclude that the term “news channels,” as used in the condition, refers to channels whose programming during the hours from 6:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. is focused on reporting and analysis relating to public affairs or local affairs of general interest or relating to business.

That would seem to exclude Current TV, at least for now, though Current is expected to ramp up its original dayside programming in the next few months.

Either way, this decision is a big, big deal.

Read more

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has apparently executed a search warrant on Fox News “mole” Joe Muto. On his Twitter feed the morning, Muto said that the DA seized his iPhone and some laptops, and is accusing him of “grand larceny.”

He also used the opportunity to take a dig at FNC parent company News Corp.

I just got search warranted at 6:30am by a very polite crew from the DA’s office. Took my iPhone, laptop, some old notebooks.

— Joe Muto (@JoeMuto) April 25, 2012

According to the warrant, Fox News is apparently accusing me of grand larceny, amongst other things.

— Joe Muto (@JoeMuto) April 25, 2012

They’re pretty worked up over a clip of Romney talking about his horses.

— Joe Muto (@JoeMuto) April 25, 2012

I should have done something more innocuous, like hacked a dead girl’s phone and interfered with a police investigation.

— Joe Muto (@JoeMuto) April 25, 2012

George Zimmerman, the man who shot Trayvon Martin, is now out on bail, released from jail just after MidnightET. Fox News and MSNBC reported the news during live updates at 12:30am. CNN/U.S. did not report the news until 5am, when “Early Start” when on the air. In fact a re-air of “Newsroom” at 4:25am reported Zimmerman “could stay in jail until the middle of next week.” CNN International did report the news at the top of a newscast at 1amET.

The man accused of killing teenager Treyvon Martin took the stand this morning. George Zimmerman was in court for a bond hearing, and took the stand briefly, where he expressed regret over Martin’s death.

I am sorry for the loss of your son,” Zimmerman said to Martin’s parents. “I did not know how old he was, I did not know if he was armed or not.”

Thanks to Florida’s sunshine laws, the hearing was televised live and in full on the “big three” cable news channels. A judge set the bond for $150,000, with a GPS ankle bracelet for monitoring.

NBCUniversal and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow have filed an anti-SLAPP motion against rocker-turned Christian minister Bradlee Dean, who filed a defamation suit against Maddow last year.

The network filed its response to Dean’s lawsuit last July, and with its new motion is seeking to have the case dismissed outright. An SLAPP lawsuit is meant to intimidate defendants by burdening them with legal fees until they cave in. Some states and jurisdictions, have very strict anti-SLAPP regulations.

The Hollywood Reporter has the details of the suit, and why NBCU and Maddow believe it should be dismissed.

“One, the broadcasts truthfully reported on Dean’s May 15th statements. Those broadcasts re-played original audio of Dean speaking on the May 15th radio show. Dean does not – and cannot – allege that he did not make those controversial statements. The fact that NBCUniversal broadcast the essence but not the entirety of what Dean said during that radio show, as he now protests, does not change this analysis. Dean bears sole responsibility for the consequences of his words, however much he may try to distance himself from the backlash.”

PBS “Frontline” is once again setting its sights on an issue close to TV news. Last time it was the News Corp. hacking scandal, this time it is the fallibility of evidence in crime investigations. There is a seriously newsworthy element however, in an interview with Jose Baez, the lawyer who helped Casey Anthony get acquitted last year.

“She had photographs of her and her child, and a network paid us $200,000 so we could mount a proper defense,” Baez said.

• Earlier on TVNewser | ABC News Paid $200,000 to Casey Anthony Family

That network was ABC News, which ended up changing its policy on licensing material in exchange for interviews in part because of the Anthony imbroglio.

Baez essentially argues in the interview that the money provided by ABC News gave them the resources to shed doubt on the forensic evidence being used against Anthony.

The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter writes about a potential trial in the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case, how big it has the potential to be, and why the media cares:

If the case goes to trial, “it has the potential to be as big as the O. J. Simpson trial — and just as divisive,” said Piers Morgan, the CNN interviewer.

Already, the fallout from the killing has become a prolonged and politically controversial news story. Along with giving Americans a shared national conversation, “it has filled the void left by a political process that lacks excitement or suspense,” said Jonathan Wald, the executive producer of Mr. Morgan’s program.

As Stelter notes, in today’s crowded media landscape, citizens increasingly don’t want to have to rely on media personalities to tell them what they think. They want to become involved:
Read more

A Florida judge offered to recuse herself from the case of George Zimmerman because of her husband’s ties to CNN legal analyst Mark NeJame. NeJame, who’s been hired by CNN to comment on the case, was on the network earlier this afternoon just as a special hearing was about to get underway.

NeJame revealed that the Judge Jessica Recksiedler would likely recuse herself from the case. Anchor Gary Tuchman speculated that it was because “she’s young.”

Instead NeJame revealed, “her husband is my law partner.” Tuchman chuckled as NeJame explained, Judge Recksiedler is “a very ethical, very excellent lawyer and judge,” adding, “So there would not be the appearance of impropriety,” she would likely step aside.

NeJame also revealed he referred Zimmerman to his new attorney Mark O’Mara, who, as TVSpy reports has been a legal analyst on the case for Orlando CBS station WKMG. The Orlando Sentinel reports that at today’s 10-minute hearing, which was called specifically to disclose the connection, that O’Mara is worried about the ties and “he may ask her to give the case to another judge.”