Changes in state law would give prosecutors other options in pursuing charges, including a law that includes a mandatory 15 years to life in state prison for rape, sodomy or a lewd act with a child.

John Evander Couey, a convicted sex offender awaiting execution for kidnapping, raping and burying 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford alive in 2005, died of natural causes Wednesday. Couey, 51, had been ill for some time and died in a Jacksonville hospital, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger.

John Evander Couey, a convicted sex offender awaiting execution for kidnapping, raping and burying 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford alive in 2005, died of natural causes Wednesday. Couey, 51, had been ill for some time and died in a Jacksonville hospital, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger.

If Roman Polanski were charged with child rape today, DNA evidence, stiffer penalties, outcry over childhood sexual abuse and tougher scrutiny of celebrity justice would make prosecutors much less willing to cut the plea…

Lehane’s historical novel that centers on the 1919 Boston police strike may be his finest work, USA TODAY’s reviewer said.

Dennis Hopper was hospitalized in New York on Wednesday.