No New Trial for Donald Blom

He’s guilty as hell, a sadistic killer and possibly a serial killer as well — so should it matter that he didn’t get a fair trial?

• Today’s update
• A Preponderance of Implication: If we all know the defendant’s guilty…

A Tale of Two Girlfriends

• Why did Scott Peterson’s lover get branded with a Scarlet Letter but Stephen Grant’s bit-on-the-side didn’t?

Why the Death Penalty Does Matter (Even in New Jersey and California)

• Article on the new Crimeweek site

Playing with Matches

California authorities have determined that one of last month’s California wildfires – one which destroyed 21 homes and injured several people in the Los Angeles area – was accidentally started by a 10-year-old boy playing with matches. Now they have to decide what to do about it, the options including removing him from his parents’ custody, placing him in juvenile detention, and handing his parents a multi-million dollar tab.

The rule of thumb when dealing with juveniles is whether the child understood that his actions were wrong – but it’s not so simple in this case: It’s one thing to understand that playing with matches is wrong, and quite another to anticipate that you might be laying waste to your entire neighborhood.

• This week’s Crimeweek column

Crimeweek

The latest updates in the Laci Peterson case (there are still updates??) and the Lisa Nowak case (possibly-crazy, possibly-diaper-wearing astronaut). Also, my interview with Scott Peterson’s lawyer before Mark Geragos took over, said lawyer having nothing much good to say about Geragos (but then, does anybody, lately?)

(The Nowak link has been fixed; sorry for the inconvenience)