Galley Girl: We hear that you had a perfect record as a prosecutor, with almost 100 felony convictions and no losses. What's the secret?
Nancy Grace: Well, a lot of hard work. I had a great investigator that I worked with for 10 straight years. The truth is, I really can't take the credit the people were guilty.
GG Your fiancé, Keith, was fatally shot during a robbery two weeks before your wedding in 1980. How has his death affected your work?
NG: Those weeks and months that followed his murder were a defining time for me. I thought that I would lose my mind if I stayed in a classroom and taught, which is what I really wanted to do. I knew I had to do something. I thought by helping other crime victims have a voice in court, I'd be helping them. But what it did was cured me.
GG: In your book, you dump on defense lawyers, particularly of the star variety. Aren't they just doing their jobs?
NG: That's what they would have you believe. But this is a free country; we can choose our jobs. That's a tired excuse used by people that somehow want to explain away what they're doing. "It's just my job!"
GG: Who's the best defense lawyer in the country right now?
NG: I would have said it was Johnnie Cochran, strictly on results. I don't know who's going to follow in his footsteps, yet.
GG: You say some pretty rough things about Mark Geragos, Scott Peterson's lawyer...
NG: Well, they're all true. You do have to give Geragos credit. A lot of lawyers are actually afraid to try cases. They're house pets. You've got to give that to Geragos he's not afraid to try a case. But I disagree with his tactics. To float such preposterous theories, such as a satanic cult killed Laci Peterson. It's ridiculous nothing whatsoever to support it. It's basically a say-anything defense. The reality is, when you're representing someone that's guilty, you're in the position of taking that position. To me, it would be an unacceptable way to make a living. Under our adversarial system, it's okay. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with it.
GG: What was the impact of the Simpson case?
NG: I think a lot of people lost faith in our justice system.
GG: What about people who say that TV in the courtroom is the problem, with the Simpson case as Exhibit No. 1?
NG: The main problem in the Simpson case was Judge Ito losing control of the courtroom. I truly believe that the camera did not create the problem; it revealed the problem. I think that's generally true. Do you behave better when you think someone is watching? I do.
GG: What do you think would have happened if the Michael Jackson case had been televised?
NG: I would have disapproved of that. When you have a child victim, I don't think cameras should be in the courtroom, ever.
GG: Pedophilia has been in the news a lot lately. Do you have any thoughts about how society could deal better with people who sexually abuse children?
NG: I'll tell you one that's as obvious as the nose on your face: Don't let recidivists out! I don't care what any shrink will tell you. I've been in the trenches for ten years. Sex offenders do not get rehabbed. I think that it's always been that way. I hate to sound jaded I don't believe that every criminal should go to jail, I think people with drug problems, alcohol problems, burglaries, thefts, car-jackings, anything that's not a violent crime, should be tried to be treated through rehab. I really do. But as far as pedophilia and sex crimes, I really don't think those can be rehabbed. Put 'em in, and throw away the key.