Crime Story Editor

On today’s Crime Story Podcast, I interview journalist Justin Fenton, who covers the crime beat for the Baltimore Sun, about his new book, We Own This City. I first became aware of Justin’s work four years ago, as I read his reporting on a police scandal that dominated the news in Baltimore and that culminated in the shooting death of Homicide Detective Sean Suiter. I found Justin’s reporting to be clarifying and insightful amid the murkiness and confusion. In fact, his reporting reminded me of the work of another Baltimore based journalist who covered that very same beat on...

It was recently reported that Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami has formally accused newly elected District Attorney George Gascón of discrimination for, among other things, comments he made during an interview with Crime Story.  Having reviewed the filing documents, we would like to clarify for our readers the timeline of events and the erroneous representations in Hatami’s claim. The claim, filed February 8, 2021 states, “On October 27, 2020, in a televised and recorded interview, Gascón said on Crime Story, ‘Some people will be unhappy and like either become internal terrorists or they’ll leave. And I know certainly how to deal...

Katherine Mader spent two decades as a judge in Los Angeles Criminal Court, before retiring early in 2020. Before that she was the LAPD’s first Inspector General, prosecuted two murder-for-hire trials and served as a defense attorney who convinced a jury to spare the life of the Hillside Strangler. In August of this year, Judge Mader published Inside the Robe: A Judge’s Candid Tale of Criminal Justice in America, which best selling author Michael Connelly called: “a perfect book: engrossing and telling at the same time.” The Judge has granted Crime Story permission to excerpt the entirety of her book...

Katherine Mader spent two decades as a judge in Los Angeles Criminal Court, before retiring early in 2020. Before that she was the LAPD’s first Inspector General, prosecuted two murder-for-hire trials and served as a defense attorney who convinced a jury to spare the life of the Hillside Strangler. In August of this year, Judge Mader published Inside the Robe: A Judge’s Candid Tale of Criminal Justice in America, which best selling author Michael Connelly called: “a perfect book: engrossing and telling at the same time.” The Judge has granted Crime Story permission to excerpt the entirety of her book...

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the International Military Tribunal, Crime Story presents a new series, NUREMBERG. Sean Smith examines the many dimensions of the historic judicial proceedings. Drawing on official transcripts of the trial, as well as a vast bibliography of first- and second-hand accounts, NUREMBERG tells the stories behind the legal, political and personal struggles which complicated this revolutionary exercise in international jurisprudence. You can find previous episodes of our Nuremberg series here. As Robert Jackson lays out the prosecution’s case before the International Military Tribunal on November 21, 1945, he addresses two audiences. One is world opinion or, in Jackson’s formulation, Civilization....

Katherine Mader spent two decades as a judge in Los Angeles Criminal Court, before retiring early in 2020. Before that she was the LAPD’s first Inspector General, prosecuted two murder-for-hire trials and served as a defense attorney who convinced a jury to spare the life of the Hillside Strangler. In August of this year, Judge Mader published Inside the Robe: A Judge’s Candid Tale of Criminal Justice in America, which best selling author Michael Connelly called: “a perfect book: engrossing and telling at the same time.” The Judge has granted Crime Story permission to excerpt the entirety of her book...