HOUSTON – Investigative journalist Wayne Dolcefino was arrested and jailed Tuesday afternoon after being found in contempt of court by Harris County Criminal Court at Law 16 Judge Darrell W. Jordan.
Sources told KPRC 2′s Phil Archer that Dolcefino went to court Tuesday to ask about a request to have investigators assigned to several cases he is working on.
“Wayne walked into the courtroom not knowing the judge was conducting a hearing via Zoom and wanted to be heard not knowing again that Jordan was in the middle of a hearing and Judge Jordan didn’t appreciate the interruption whereupon Wayne was held in direct contempt,” Dolcefino’s attorney Dan Cogdel told KPRC 2.
“The spectator (Dolcefino) was disrupting court, he was warned 3X: have a seat or leave courtroom. He refused, kept demanding to interview judge. Upon final warning, Judge stated he would be held in custody, to which spectator responded: ‘Do what you have to do,‘” a court document reads.
The document further states that Dolcefino’s behavior “prevented the court from conducting its proceedings in a dignified, orderly, and expeditious manner.”
“Despite the Court’s warnings, Contemnor (Dolcefino) persisted in disrupting the proceedings of the court,” the document reads.
Dolcefino was found guilty of the charge and was sentenced to 3 days in Harris County Jail and a $500 fine.
While he was originally arrested without bond, Cogdel is working to have an Appellate court set bond so Dolcefino can be freed as he suffers from severe medical problems.
“He is a Type 2 Diabetes, he has multiple sclerosis, and he has relapsing MS which puts him in a very dangerous position in terms of COVID-19,” Cogdel said.
For several decades, Dolcefino was a journalist for a Houston TV station before forming Dolcefino Consulting that is a self-described “media consulting firm, hired by companies, law firms and private citizens and taxpayers to expose injustice, fraud, and abuse of power.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.