COCONUT CREEK --

Yesterday, Broward County Assistant State Attorney Stefanie Newman sent a letter to WSVN’s Legal Counsel (aka To Whom It May Concern) regarding the Help Me Howie Officer Yacobellis segment, accusing Public Defender Howie Finklestein of “political grandstanding for personal gain” and distorting the facts to further his political agenda.

Seems the SAO is pissed… Just how pissed?

Says Newman, “It is truly disappointing that a public official is using his side job, which purports to be to aid the public, to smear a local police officer for political gain. Perhaps more disappointing is that Channel 7 deliberately omitted the true facts, and failed to air the State’s FULL response to Mr. Finkelstein’s accusations, to apparently support this effort. It is quite apparent that your station’s journalistic integrity has been severely compromised as evidenced by you irresponsible misrepresentations of the true facts in this case. Your conduct in airing this segment suggests the need to provide an on-air caveat that while you are purportedly a news agency, your stories are only reported according to the dictates of your employee, Howard Finkelstein and may not actually represent the true facts of the situation being reported.”

Irresponsible. Misrepresentation. Lack of Integrity. Show of hands … who in the audience thought Newman was talking about MAOS?

Let the battle begin and queue the breathless, bumper sticker chattering Bob Norman.

MAOS Newman YacoTaco by