I've been running around like crazy this week, trying to fit too much into my schedule, and so I haven't had time to write a blog. My apologies.

But here's a few quick thoughts about my week thus far.
1. On Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, our newspaper gives its employees a half-hour off to reflect on Dr. King's legacy. Unfortunately, I was too busy to take any time off. But I did think about him in small increments. I went to the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis a couple of times, the place where he was assassinated -- on the balcony outside room 306 -- to pay my respects. What a tragedy that he was slain. He was a great leader who played a key role in helping America overcome its horrible history of civil rights abuses. Two side notes: One, Bishop Jack Spong told me that he thinks Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" should be added to the Bible. I'm sorry to say I haven't read the entire letter, but plan to do so. Here is a link to make it easy for you. Two, my favorite band, U2, sang a tribute to Dr. King in their song "In the Name of Love." But Bono, the honesty addict that he is, admitted that he rewrote history to make the song's lyrics sound better. Dr. King was shot at 6:01 p.m. but the lyric say, "Early morning, April 4, A shot rings out in the Memphis Sky. Free at last, they took your life. But they could not take your pride."
Bono said early morning sounded better than 6 p.m. or early evening. Literary license I guess.
2. I met with Fr. Robinson's attorney, John Donahue, this week. He is convinced the priest is innocent -- the only innocent client he says he's ever had in 27 years of practicing law. I can't say much more because the discussion was off the record.
3. A Detroit man who has read my book 3 times and knows the case inside out came down to Toledo to talk to me. He is also a chaplain and met with Fr. Robinson in December in prison. He also is convinced that Fr. Swiatecki was the murderer. But he also said that my book is "extremely fair to Father Robinson, don't let anybody tell you otherwise."
4. I was speaking to J. Christopher Anderson, one of the prosecutors in the Robinson case who specializes in forensic science, and asked again about an illustration for how small a picogram is -- it's one trillionth of a gram. The DNA found on Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl's girdle was below the minimum reporting standard of 30 picograms, but the minuscule amount found was from a male other than Fr. Robinson. As said many times before, this could have come from a cough, a sneeze, or incidental contact with medical personnel. But to illustrate the size of a picogram, you can look at this way: a picogram to a gram is the equivalent of one drop of detergent in a train of tanker cars 10 miles long, OR, one bathroom tile to the state of Indiana.

That's about all for now... Sorry to have been silent for several days.

Toledo, Ohio
January 23, 2008