Ohio reporters are puppets to the court

A news station in Ohio has found an out-of-the-box way to cover a closed-court case. Action News 19 is using puppets to cover the corruption trial of former Cuyahoga County commissioner Jimmy Dimora. The case is currently in federal court and since cameras are not allowed in the proceedings, 19 Action News station WOIO has puppets reenact the scenes from court each day.

The puppets repeat testimony of the day's case. Scenes from the daily puppet-cast range from reenactments of phone calls to testimony and are narrated by a talking squirrel. The station airs a report of the case earlier in the broadcast and then ends with the puppet broadcast, according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

Dimora served in Cuyahoga County for more than 35 years on various levels. In addition to his work as county commissioner, he was mayor for five consecutive terms, was on the city council and was a city employee. Among other things, Dimora was on a committee that was in charge of 8,500 employees and entrusted with a $1.4 million budget to simultaneously take care of what the county website describes as its "most fragile" citizens as well as provide for economic and job development in the area, according to the Cuyahoga County website.

Among other charges, Dimora is charged with racketeering, conspiracy and fraud. He is currently being tried for racketeering, for which he has pleaded not guilty, according to station WOIO. More than 50 people are implicated in this federal investigation, wrote Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter James F. McCarty.