Retrial Begins in 1982 Killings After Judges Void Conviction

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 assertion that he saw his father kill his stepmother, and then killed him in retaliation for her death. Bloom, 36, was convicted of shooting both parents, and then stabbing his stepsister 23 times with a pair of scissors.

Bloom was arrested within an hour with blood on his hands and shoes. Prosecutors said Bloom killed Robert Bloom Sr., Josephine Bloom and 8-year-old Sandra Hughes Bloom.

The crux of the retrial will be Bloom’s mental state, not his innocence.

“I think they are going to raise a more substantial mental defense,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels. “I’m sure it’s going to be a different defense than the first trial. But there is no question [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 that 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 in prison for the other killings.

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

But federal judges of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1997 that Bloom’s former attorney, Sherwin Edelberg of Encino, did not bring forward 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,’ ” wrote Judge David Thompson.

The appellate court judges were troubled by the limited information given by Edelberg to a psychiatrist who evaluated Bloom. Although allegations that Bloom was abused as a child were presented at the 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 might experience psychotic episodes. The prosecution exploited the flip-flop during the trial, focusing on Kling’s first diagnosis.

Edelberg said the trial’s “diminished capacity” defense, which does not measure to the level of insanity, was appropriate given the circumstances.

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

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

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