"The Twelve" actually had a vigilante district attorney be called on that, though the government promptly cheated by enlisting him as a secret agent in exchange for not sending him to jail.
The 2000s run of "Manhunter" had a particularly bad case, a DA who was supposed to be top-notch but had a habit of calling for "a verdict of death!" In the courtroom.
You'd think that a district attorney, of all people, would feel they were making a contribution to fighting crime.
The one writer who seemed to know the law on a practical basis was Rex Stout. Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin always exercised their rights and knew how to handle being charged with various things. Most writers (particularly comics writers) don't seem to have a good grasp of the law. I imagine they watch CSI shows, which wouldn't help.
Earle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason, was also scrupulous about the use of law in his stories--everything Perry does is technically possible under California law of the time, though he gets away with dubious high-handed tactics all the time, unlike real defense attorneys. (The TV show was less accurate.)
Things you might not have known: Gardner also wrote a series of stories about heroic DA Doug Selby, whose battles against shyster A.B. Carr inverted the Mason formula. Also, Mr. Gardner was interested in real life mysteries, founding The Court of Last Resort, a group that investigated cases where a miscarriage of justice might have occurred. (An ancestor of today's Innocence Project.)
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And now you know the rest of the story. Good day!
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The 2000s run of "Manhunter" had a particularly bad case, a DA who was supposed to be top-notch but had a habit of calling for "a verdict of death!" In the courtroom.
Reply
The one writer who seemed to know the law on a practical basis was Rex Stout. Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin always exercised their rights and knew how to handle being charged with various things. Most writers (particularly comics writers) don't seem to have a good grasp of the law. I imagine they watch CSI shows, which wouldn't help.
Reply
Things you might not have known: Gardner also wrote a series of stories about heroic DA Doug Selby, whose battles against shyster A.B. Carr inverted the Mason formula. Also, Mr. Gardner was interested in real life mysteries, founding The Court of Last Resort, a group that investigated cases where a miscarriage of justice might have occurred. (An ancestor of today's Innocence Project.)
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