Crime Story Editor

On February 19, 2020, Katherine Mader retired after serving for nearly two decades as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. Before she joined the bench in 2001, she also practiced criminal defense from 1973-1985, was a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney from 1985-1996 and 1999-2001, and was the first LAPD inspector general from 1996-1999. Why I Support George Gascón for District Attorney By Katherine Mader, Los Angeles Criminal Court judge, retired February, 2020 Having spent the last forty-five years participating in the Los Angeles criminal justice system from all angles (prosecutor, defense attorney, LAPD inspector general, and Superior Court judge), I...

Kary Antholis: This is Jury Duty, a weekly podcast forum for the discussion of crime and justice storytelling, news and narrative analysis presented by Crime Story Media.  This episode features a discussion between yours truly, Crime Story, Publisher/Editor Kary Antholis and Crime Story Consulting Editor, and Georgetown Law Professor, Paul Butler.  In our chat, Paul and I discuss the national movement to elect progressive District Attorneys. Kary Antholis: Welcome, Paul Butler. Thanks for joining me. Paul Butler: Hey Kary, great to be here. Kary Antholis: Thanks for your terrific piece on Kim Foxx and Jussie Smollett that we published this morning. Paul Butler: I'd been critical of her not being...

A long trial can breed moments of unanticipated intimacy. CRIME STORY has been reporting on the Durst pre-trial hearings for nearly a year now, and it’s safe to say that a strained familiarity has developed between all concerned parties. There are nodding encounters in courthouse cafeteria lines and muttered asides in crowded elevators. It’s also inevitable that over the course of a lengthy court case, you will share a restroom with someone from the trial. (This probability is enhanced by the fact that all of the CRIME STORY reporters covering the trial so far have been male; men also make up...

Editor’s note: Out of respect for the privacy of one of the people depicted in this story, we have changed that person’s name. It was 1983 in the men’s department of a Sears when Curtis Estes committed a crime that would eventually redefine an entire category of theft in California. Estes was unaware that a security guard was watching him when he surreptitiously slipped on a down vest, and then a corduroy jacket, from the rack. Price tags concealed, Estes strolled out the door with the unpurchased merchandise on his back. It wasn’t until he reached the parking lot that the...

Kary Antholis: This is Jury Duty, a podcast forum for the discussion of crime and justice storytelling, news and narrative analysis brought to you by Crime Story Media. This is Crime Story Editor and Publisher Kary Antholis and on today's Jury Duty, Crime Story Reporter Molly Miller and I present part two of our two part interview with Los Angeles District Attorney candidate George Gascón.  Gascón is running against incumbent District Attorney Jackie Lacey and former Los Angeles and Federal Public Defender Rachel Rossi.  Primary election day is Tuesday, March 3rd and so without further ado, here is part two of our...

Kary Antholis: This is jury duty, a podcast forum for the discussion of crime and justice storytelling, news and narrative analysis brought to you by Crime Story Media. This is Crime Story Editor and Publisher Kary Antholis and on today's jury duty Crime Story Reporter Molly Miller and I present part one of our two part interview with Los Angeles District Attorney candidate George Gascón.  Gascón is running against incumbent District Attorney Jackie Lacey and former Los Angeles and Federal Public Defender Rachel Rossi.  Primary election day is Tuesday, March 3rd and so without further ado, here is part one of our...