Reporter Cited With Contempt (Updated)

You often hear threats of someone being held in contempt of court, but it's not that common to actually have it happen; especially to a reporter.

Elizabeth Amanieh

KWWL-TV (Waterloo) reporter Elizabeth Amanieh now has that distinction. Amanieh was covering a court appearance by 'The Bachelor' star Chris Soules on charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. She had asked the judge if she could shoot video, and the judge said, 'No'.

A few hours after the hearing, video of the appearance was posted on KWWL's website and used in broadcasts.

Word is the Reporter used her cellphone to shoot video of the hearing. 

“The defendant used her cell phone during said hearing, and it was later reported that the defendant was using her cell phone to take video of the initial appearance hearing, despite the verbal order she had previously received from Judge Fangman,” Zaputil wrote in her affidavit.

KWWL News Director Shane Moreland said Tuesday he hadn’t seen the contempt claim and couldn’t comment on the matter.

“I’m not going to have any comment on any kind of legal proceeding. I just can’t do that. It would be up to our attorneys to handle,” Moreland said.

Update: KWWL ND Shane More tells FTVLive that the station did have permission to air the video. "We published and aired the courtroom video only after we got direct permission from the Chief Judge and the County Judge overseeing this case. We held the video until we gained that approval," Moreland told FTVLive.

h/t The Courier

---