Jim Blackburn, the prosecutor who won the conviction of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald in the case that inspired the book "Fatal Vision," says some of the news coverage of the John Edwards case reminded him of his own fall from grace. After entering private practice, Blackburn admitted in 1993 that he had stolen $230,000 from his law firm to cover lies he made to clients. Blackburn lost his law license and went to prison. In time, he paid the money back. 

One of Blackburn's lawyers was his friend Wade Smith. Blackburn and Smith were on opposite sides in the MacDonald case. Upon receiving Smith's advice, Blackburn confessed fully. Blackburn said Smith told him: "Take their best shot and don't whine. Then you get your life back." Blackburn wrote a book about his experiences, "Flame-out."

Blackburn said it was best that his secrets were revealed. "If it hadn't blown apart, I'd still be trying to control it," he told me last week. "Blowing apart was the best thing that happened."

While noting some similarities in news coverage of his fall and Edwards', Blackburn declined to give Edwards advice. Read more of Blackburn's comments here.