State to Again Seek Death in Triple Slaying

The state will again seek the death penalty for a Sun Valley man who was sentenced to die for killing his parents and sister 18 years ago, prosecutors said Tuesday.

A jury rejected Robert M. Bloom Jr.’s claim he saw his father kill his stepmother, and that Bloom then killed his father in retaliation for her death. Bloom, now 36, was convicted of shooting both parents, and then stabbing his 8-year-old stepsister 23 times with scissors.

The crux of the retrial will be Bloom’s mental state, not his innocence. Although the murder weapon was never found, Bloom was arrested within an hour with blood on his hands and shoes.

Prosecutors said Bloom shot his father, Robert Bloom Sr., his stepmother, Josephine Bloom, and his stepsister, Sandra Hughes Bloom.

Prosecutors said they don’t plan to introduce any new evidence but believe Bloom’s attorneys have a new plan of attack.

“I think they are going to raise a more substantial mental defense,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels said. “I’m sure it’s going to be a different defense than the first trial. But there is no question he [Bloom] was the killer.”

At that first trial, Bloom said he killed his stepsister during a “transitory state,” and thus pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the last murder charge.

Bloom, who was 18 at the time, fired his first lawyer, asked for capital punishment, and told jurors he would “laugh all day long” if they sentenced him to life.

Bloom appealed the conviction and death sentence. The California Supreme Court rejected the argument in 1989, and upheld the death penalty.

But federal judges of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1997 that Bloom’s former attorney, Sherwin Edelberg of Encino, didn’t produce enough evidence that his client was mentally ill.

“We are satisfied that had it not been for the deficient performance of Bloom’s trial counsel, there is a ‘reasonable probability’ that the verdicts ‘would have been different,’ ” Judge David Thompson wrote.

The appellate court judges were troubled by the limited information given by Edelberg to a psychiatrist who evaluated Bloom.

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Although allegations Bloom was abused as a child were presented at the first trial, Dr. Arthur Kling wrote initially that Bloom would not benefit from treatment at a mental facility.

Upon a second interview with Bloom, Kling changed his opinion and said the defendant had a “schizotypal personality disorder” and may experience psychotic episodes.

The prosecution exploited the flip-flop during the trial, focusing on Kling’s first diagnosis.

Edelberg said his “diminished capacity” defense, which doesn’t measure to the level of insanity, was appropriate given the circumstances.

“The jury heard all of the testimony about the child abuse,” Edelberg said in an interview Monday. “I firmly believe I gave my client a good defense.”

Bloom is represented for the retrial by a government-appointed lawyer.

Jury selection is continuing in the Van Nuys courtroom of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp.