Crime Story Editor

CRIME STORY’S Sean Smith continues his weekly analysis of the news stories aggregated in CRIME STORY DAILY related to COVID-19 and our carceral system. By reconsidering early reporting on the crisis in the light of subsequent developments, CRIME STORY hopes to point out trends in the narrative of COVID-19 and the prisons. You can find links to each of Sean’s analysis pieces here. This article covers the week beginning May 17. WEEK 11 (MAY 24-MAY 30)  The New York Times commemorated Memorial Day by devoting the entire front page of its Sunday, May 24 edition to a list of the almost 100,000 Americans...

The “Yes, And…” Principle for Justice: An Interview with Emily Galvin-Almanza By Amanda Knox with Christopher Robinson Emily Galvin-Almanza is CEO and co-founder of Partners For Justice, a nonprofit that pairs recent college graduates with overworked and resource-poor public defenders’ offices to provide case management services to vulnerable clients. She is also the senior legal counsel at The Justice Collaborative, an organization that offers legal, policy, communications, and networking support to organizations working to end mass incarceration and poverty. Galvin-Almanza’s pinned tweet is about #DefundThePolice, and how it’s going to take a lot more than withdrawing qualified immunity to finally hold individual...

Links to all of CRIME STORY'S coverage of the Robert Durst trial are here. Episode 4: Point Blank Episode Synopsis Deputy DA John Lewin tells the jury that Robert Durst entrusted Susan Berman with his darkest secret. The prosecutor then chronicles the key events in each of their lives that led Durst to allegedly shoot his best friend in the back of her head. You can listen now by clicking on the embedded player above or on your preferred platform below. Apple PodcastsSpotify Castbox - Podcast Player Acast Please SUBSCRIBE, FOLLOW, LISTEN, SHARE and RATE the podcast on your chosen platform. Here is a bit more information about...

Smoke But No Fire: An Interview with Jessica Henry Amanda Knox with Christopher Robinson Jessica Henry is a professor and former public defender based in New Jersey. She’s also the author of Smoke But No Fire (University of California Press), set to be published on August 4, 2020. Her book tells the stories of innocent people tried, convicted, imprisoned, and even put to death, for crimes that never occurred in the first place. She identifies the aspects and actors of our criminal justice system that not only allow, but encourage, this kind of injustice, and she poses solutions.  The nightmare scenario people...

Crime Story has partnered with the Podcast giant Acast to host, distribute, and monetize our original podcast series, Jury Duty: The Trial of Robert Durst. The groundbreaking series tells the stories presented in a murder trial as the trial is happening. Jury Duty: The Trial of Robert Durst is available on all podcast players, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the Acast app. You can find all of the episodes here. On Friday, July 17, the opposing parties in the trial of Robert Durst for the murder of Susan Berman reconvene in Department 1 at the Inglewood Courthouse, a drab mashup of Brutalist exterior and...

The Case of Leonard Peltier: An Interview with Kevin Sharp By Amanda Knox with Christopher Robinson On June 26, 1975, FBI agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams died in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The man who has spent the last 44 years in prison for aiding and abetting their murders is now 75-year-old Leonard Peltier, a member of the American Indian Movement, AIM, which seeks to address systemic racism and police brutality towards Native Americans. Former U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp, who now represents Peltier, says that not only is Peltier innocent, he’s the...