Word: suspects
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When prosecutors pick which criminal charges to file, they need have only probable cause, or reasonable belief that the suspect committed the crimes charged. This low standard creates room to pile on the most severe charges possible to bully a defendant into a plea bargain. If a case ends up going before a jury, the prosecutor would have to prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt. So why give him the chance, Davis argues, to "intimidate, harass or coerce a guilty plea" with charges he knows he cannot prove at trial? Davis would bump the probable-cause standard to something...
...Constitution requires a grand jury to indict a suspect before he can be tried for a federal felony, and about half the states have a similar setup. This panel of ordinary people is supposed to check the prosecutor's power by making him present a preliminary case in a kind of minitrial, though one without a defense attorney. But because the prosecutor gets to decide which witnesses to call and which questions to ask, Davis wants to make the process less one-sided by requiring prosecutors to tell jurors about evidence that helps the suspect...
There were exceptions, like Jane Tennison, Helen Mirren's brilliant but self-destructive, even cruel detective in the British Prime Suspect series. But the more commercial inspiration for TV's new women may be Meredith Grey. Grey's Anatomy is far removed from the suburban dysfunction of Weeds or the deadly intrigues of Damages, but it demonstrated that there was a vast audience for a show about a fleshed-out heroine who sleeps with a married man, makes bad and selfish choices and can be downright unlikable...
...also probably no coincidence that these actresses were able to see Mirren collect both an Emmy and an Oscar last season (for portraying Queens Elizabeth I and II) after having played the Ur-antiheroine in Prime Suspect. (Driver, Parker and Sedgwick won Emmy nominations this year--as did Mirren, for Prime Suspect's final installment.) Closer creator James Duff never expected Sedgwick to play Brenda--nor, at first, did Sedgwick. Then, she says, "my manager said to me, 'It's a little bit like Prime Suspect.'" These shows give non-ingenues a rare chance to play interesting women. Grace...
...latest, ugliest spasm of scandal came Wednesday night, when Tour leader Michael Rasmussen was sent home by his Rabobank team after the Dane admitted having lied about his suspect pre-race training program. That logic was based on a move made a week before by Danish cycling authorities to kick Rasmussen off their national team headed for the 2008 Olympics. Danish officials say Rasmussen failed to provide required information as he trained for the current Tour - details on his whereabouts designed to allow anti-doping experts to perform surprise tests. Rasmussen's departure was greeted with relief by Tour directors...