In January 2001, Downey was scheduled to play the role of "Hamlet" in a Los Angeles stage production directed by Mel Gibson. Before the end of his first season on "Ally McBeal", over the Thanksgiving 2000 holiday, Downey was arrested when his room at Merv Griffin's Hotel and Givenchy Spa in Palm Springs, California was searched by the police, who were responding to an anonymous 911 call. Downey was under the influence of a controlled substance and in possession of cocaine and Valium. Despite the fact that, if convicted, he would have faced a prison sentence of up to four years and eight months, he signed on to appear in at least eight more "Ally McBeal" episodes. In April 2001, while he was on parole, a Los Angeles police officer found him wandering barefooted in Culver City. He was arrested for suspicion of being under the influence of drugs, but was released a few hours later, even though tests showed he had cocaine in his system. After this last arrest, producer David E. Kelley and other "Ally McBeal" executives ordered last-minute rewrites and reshoots and fired Downey from the show, despite the fact that Downey's character had resuscitated "Ally McBeal"s ratings. The Culver City arrest also cost him a role in the high-profile film "America's Sweethearts", and the subsequent incarceration prompted Mel Gibson to shut down his planned stage production of "Hamlet" as well. In July 2001, Downey pleaded no contest to the Palm Springs charges, avoiding jail time. Instead, he was sent into drug rehabilitation and received three years of probation, benefiting from California Proposition 36, which had been passed the year before with the aim of helping nonviolent drug offenders overcome their addictions instead of sending them to jail. The book "Conversations with Woody Allen" reports that director Woody Allen wanted to cast Downey and Winona Ryder in his film "Melinda and Melinda" in 2005, but was unable to do so, because he could not get insurance on them, stating, "We couldn't get bonded. The completion bonding companies would not bond the picture unless we could insure them. We were heartbroken because I had worked with Winona before [on "Celebrity"] and thought she was perfect for this and wanted to work with her again. And I had always wanted to work with Bob Downey and always thought he was a huge talent." In a December 18, 2000 article for "People" magazine entitled "Bad to Worse", Downey's stepmother Rosemary told author Alex Tresnlowski, that Downey had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder "a few years ago" and added that his bipolar disorder was "the reason he has a hard time staying sober.