The Artful Jurist

No one upheld the law like the tenacious, rumpled, raincoat-wearing Detective Columbo, whose trademark "Oh, just one more thing..." kept clever killers off balance and kept audiences coming back episode after episode.  But there will be no more "one more thing" returns for Columbo.  The actor who played him, Peter Falk, has died.

When he began playing Columbo in the 1970s, Mr. Falk's portrayal of a law enforcement officer was a marked turn-around from his earlier days as an actor, when he typically played people on the other side of the law.  I also can't help but also think that Columbo was a marked contrast to several of the present-day TV detectives whose gonzo police techniques often push, or seem to go beyond, the boundaries of constitutional limits.  I can't recall any episodes where Columbo had to be reprimanded by his superiors for violations of the Fourth or Fifth Amendments.  Those types of scenes are almost cliché for today's cops shows.

Although I have to admit that I have no recollection of Columbo ever reciting the Miranda rights to anyone.  Maybe that was one of those "one more thing" moments the cameras just never stuck around long enough to catch.