KHGI, the Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate serving Lincoln, Nebraska, is “taking the blame” for causing a mistrial in a murder case by airing pictures of potential jurors.
“We sent a reporter to cover the important case. A court official showed our reporter where it would be okay to stand,” the station said on its website. “Unfortunately, we did not know there were potential jurors in that location, which we then showed in video that aired Monday.
“Had we known jurors were in the hall, NTV would not have filmed or aired the video,” it said.
On Tuesday, the court declared a mistrial to protect potential jurors’ privacy. A hearing on when to restart the process will be held Nov. 2.
“I sincerely apologize for our role in this mistrial," wrote news director Matt Weesner. "There was never any malicious intent to interfere with this trial."
