TNT & "Cold Justice" Producers Sued by Acquitted Murder Suspect
by Dominic Patten
August 11, 2015


There’s a new legal chill hitting the unscripted cold-case procedural this summer.

TNT, "Cold Justice" producers Wolf Films and Magical Elves and on-air talent Kelly Siegler, Yolanda McClary and Alan Brown are among those who acquitted murder suspect Steven Noffsinger is taking to court over civil rights violations and defamation.



“The defendants’ collective investigations, which occurred in 2014, were an attempt to resurrect a ‘cold case,’ and resulted in an unreasonably reckless disregard for and malicious prosecution of plaintiff in violation of the United States and Ohio Constitutions and state law,” says the seven-claim jury seeking complaint filed on August 7 in federal court.

The episode of "Cold Justice" focusing on the December 17, 1981, death of the plaintiff’s ex-wife aired on August 8 last year and is also available online.

TNT had no response to the lawsuit today when contacted by Deadline.







This is the second time TNT and "Cold Justice" had been sued by a subject of one of their shows in just over a year.

Late last August, John Singletary filed for damages over more than $100,000 over "Cold Justice" and local police re-linking him to a 2010 murder from which he had previously been dismissed over insufficient evidence at the State of Tennessee’s request.

That case is still before the courts.







“The production, taken as a whole, leaves the unmistakable impression with the audience that the plaintiff is a killer and, specifically, that he was the perpetrator in the murder of Alma Noffsinger, without ever mentioning that the State of Ohio determined not to pursue the matter with the evidence it had in 1981, which was more than the evidence presented in the production,” said the more recent filing by attorneys Michael Rumer, Victoria Maisch Rumer, Zachary Maisch and Andrea M. Brown of Lima, Ohio firm Rumer & Maisch Co. LLC.







Seeking more than $75,000 in damages in this case, Noffsinger also named Sheriff Jason Landers and two Paulding County deputies as defendants in the matter.

Noffsinger was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife on August 1, 2014. After more than 260 days behind bars, he was found not guilty on May 1 this year after a four-day trial.



“The publicity of said television production invaded plaintiff’s privacy by placing plaintiff before the public at large in a false light because the television production contained false and inaccurate statements about plaintiff,” says the complaint of last week.

“The false light in which plaintiff was placed would be highly offensive to a reasonable person because it depicted plaintiff as the perpetrator of the homicide of Alma Noffsinger.”







Debuting in September 2013, "Cold Justice" follows former Texas prosecutor Siegler and ex-crime scene investigator McClary as they work with local police to reopen and solve unresolved cases.

Wolf Reality and Magical Elves produce for the series for TNT, with Dick Wolf, Dan Cutforth & Jane Lipsitz, and Tom Thayer serving as EPs.

A "Cold Justice: Sex Crimes" spin-off debuted on July 31 on TNT.

http://deadline.com/2015/08/cold-justice-tnt-dick-wolf-kelly-siegler-lawsuit-1201497654/

And cancelled. Can't say I'm surprised really.

More grief for Kelly Siegler: She's been accused of 3 dozen counts of prosecutorial misconduct in what was (perhaps not coincidentally) the last case she tried in Texas, which was the subject of a recent episode of 48 Hours entitled: "Playing By The Rules?".

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Kelly-Siegler-responds-to-allegations-in-Katy-6437951.php

And cancelled. Can't as I'm surprised really.

More grief for Kelly Siegler: She's been accused of 3 dozen counts of prosecutorial misconduct in what was (perhaps not coincidentally) the last case she tried in Texas, which was the subject of a recent episode of 48 Hours entitled: "Playing By The Rules?".

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Kelly-Siegler-responds-to-allegations-in-Katy-6437951.php

I was absolutely livid while watching that episode last week. Siegler has no ethics and no class whatsoever. She is merely another ruthless prosecutor who latches onto a simplistic plausible story and pursues whoever is the convenient target. Contrary evidence is ignored, if not hidden from the defense. Truth is irrelevant compared to court room theatrics, high decibel level, and a conviction.

That Texas case (defendant Temple, a football player) was a classic example that the state doesn't care about subsequent exculpatory evidence and will take any steps to protect the original verdict, and therefore the reputation of the prosecutors. Siegler and others involved in the original trial actually had the gall to later advise other suspects to lawyer up and shut up once a former member of the prosecution had misgivings toward Temple's guilt and was opening a subsequent investigation. Siegler's attempt to justify her actions was laughable, although it carried her forever charming facial expressions, best described as a human pit bull.

The scary reality is that there are Kelly Siegler types all over the place. Not as well known but every bit as unethical. People like to win. Prosecuting is a nice path to all but guarantee a high winning percentage. When the occasional innocent party is seated at the defendant's table, a few twists here and there is all it takes to conceal evidence, along with making sure the simplistic storyline is even louder and more evil than standard.

I couldn't get into Cold Justice. It just wasn't there.

Whereas most other true crime shows or even news broadcasts do a good job of providing both or all angles of a case, Cold Justice liked to lead viewers down a particular path into thinking "Hey!, this guy is guilty!" Technically, they did mention other suspects, but would often conveniently eliminate those and cross them off the washboard. It's better to let viewers decide for themselves who's guilty and who's not. Cold Justice like to do the viewer's job for them, and I think that's where they ran into trouble.

I can understand the various lawsuits that were thrown their way during the show's brief tenure, and as I stated above, I'm not surprised in the least it was cancelled. I don't know what the ratings were, but I'm sure the show was a giant headache for the executives at TNT.

Another thing was that the show heavily skewed towards cases from the southern states, by like a 10:1 margin. The entire northeast was completely ignored. None from California, the largest state in the union. I think they did one from the Pacific Northwest. Rarely a case from any of the states that border Canada.

The scary reality is that there are Kelly Siegler types all over the place. Not as well known but every bit as unethical. People like to win. Prosecuting is a nice path to all but guarantee a high winning percentage. When the occasional innocent party is seated at the defendant's table, a few twists here and there is all it takes to conceal evidence, along with making sure the simplistic storyline is even louder and more evil than standard.

Oh, friend... I get what you're saying but I disagree. When we become prosecutors, we are tasked with finding the TRUTH. Most of the time, that does result in a conviction. Sometimes, through the course of a prosecution, you realize you have the wrong guy and dismiss the case.

As far as exculpatory evidence, while we aren't required to collect it for the other side, we ARE required to turn it over if we have it. Which I believe most do, as it's very much a part of our unspoken code of honor.

Are there bad prosecutors out there? Sure. But I would argue that the number of unethical defense attorneys outnumber the unethical prosecutors by far....

With all that said, I haven't seen this show, nor do I know who the prosecutor is. Definitely worth a look, though.

I had mixed feelings on the show and after seeing her on multiple 48 hours (who seemed to be working in cohorts with her before the latest brouhaha) was not a huge fan of Siegler. It was entertaining and the show humanized Siegler when it showed her empathy for the victim's families. The case where the DNA was just way too old was gut wrenching. The issue I had was other than HLN I have to hunt for Turner Broadcasting channels and I just wasn't familiar with the schedule, so can't say I'll miss it. There's always Netflix.