About Colin Nelson

Colin T. Nelson worked for 40 years as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer in Minneapolis. He tried everything from speeding tickets to first degree murder. His writing about the courtroom and the legal system give the reader a "back door" view of what goes on, what's funny, and what's a good story. He has also traveled extensively and includes those locations in his mysteries. Some are set in Southeast Asia, Ecuador,Peru, and South Africa. Readers get a suspenseful tale while learning about new places on the planet. Colin is married, has two adult children, and plays the saxophone in various bands.

Miss USA, Rima Fakih, a Terrorist?

Here’s an interesting question: If your last name is Smith, does that prove you’re a terrorist since one of the Irish Republican Army terrorists is named Smith?

Rima Fakih, an American of Lebanese descent and a Muslim, was just crowned Miss USA. Bloggers and pundits have accused her of ties to Hezbollah, the terrorist group from the Middle …

I Want to be a Sniper When I Grow Up

A friend of mine, who is a juvenile court probation officer, noted the other day that one of her little probationers answered her question, “When I grow up, I want to become a sniper.”

A fruitful and worthwhile occupation, I guess.

What’s concerning to me is that a young child would look forward to something like this. Whatever …

What about Arizona's Neighbors?

Arizona’s legislature and governor passed a new law that allows police to stop anyone suspected of or who “looks like” they’re an illegal immigrant…whatever that means. In addition, it’s now a crime to be an illegal immigrant in Arizona.

Lots of bloggers and media people have made so much noise about this, they could probably blow apart the …

Too "Real" for Reality TV

I’m often asked where writers get their ideas. Here are a couple from real life…

Having practiced in the courts for over 30 years, I’ve seen just about everything you can imagine concerning human behavior. I’d like to share some of the funnier/tragic ones with you.

Uncle Charles is upstairs in his bedroom

During a cold spell a …

Michigan Militia Scares Me

An article in the New York Times, www.nytimes.com, by Nick Bunkley and Charlie Savage recounts a scary scene: Police in Clayton Michigan raided a house containing people who were members of a militia, plotting to kill law enforcement officers in an attempt to spark an anti-government uprising.

Motivated by a religious purpose, they planned to not only kill …

Elected or Picked by Politicians?

How should we select our judges?

Which would you rather have: a corrupt, incompetent governor appoints his lackey, corrupt friends to be judges across the state to decide the most serious cases or a small, well-funded group that raises enough money to swing judicial elections to ensure candidates that will always agree with their extreme positions are elected?…