California Justice

Robert Blake: Aquitted.



Scott Peterson: Death.

Robert Blake appears to be the beneficiary of the forgiving jurors of Los Angeles. Despite a fair amount of evidence that tended to support the prosecution's contention that Robert Blake killed his wife, the jury remained unconvinced he was guilty. Of course, I don't see many people rushing to proclaim that Blake was actually innocent. Although there wasn't enough evidence to convince a jury that Blake was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, there was plenty of evidence to indicate he is one wacky and unstable guy who maybe whacked his wife.

Scott Peterson, though, clearly got what he deserved. The death penalty was made for a guy like Peterson. The argument could be made that a man who kills his wife in a fit of rage might deserve a jail sentance instead of death. Arguably, someone who commits an isolated crime of passion could be rehabilitated one day. However, a man who kills his wife and unborn child with cold blooded calculation, then proceeds to cover up his crime and pretend like it never happened, well, society has no use for such a man. One hopes Scott Peterson will shuffle off this mortal coil with all due haste. In California, that means about 20 years unless another inmate gets him first.