FNC Reporter Does Not Face Jail Time

Fox News Reporter Jana Winter got some good news from a New York court.

Winter has been saved from possible jail time by a New York appeals court.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that After a shooting rampage at an Aurora, Colo., midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in July 2012, Winter cited law enforcement sources as revealing that suspect James Holmes had sent a University of Colorado psychiatrist a notebook previewing his attack. In seeking to compel Winter's testimony about the identify of her sources, Holmes' attorneys made the argument that law enforcement illegally compromised the legal process and attempted to influence a high-profile death penalty case.

That set off a legal debate over whether Winter, a New York resident, could lean on New York's strong reporter shield law to quash a subpoena. Holmes' lawyers argued that Winter did her work in Colorado -- with less generous protections on source identification -- and that criminal law procedure provided for the availability and testimony of out-of-state residents.

At a lower court, Winter lost, and was facing the possibility of having to travel to Colorado for a hearing next month in Holmes' ongoing criminal prosecution. There, she was prepared to remain mum and face the possibility of months in a jail cell.

But in a 4-3 ruling on Tuesday, a New York appeals court won't let that happen.