Festival says director Polanski in Swiss custody

[Are_grits_groceries]

Source: Washington Post/AP

ZURICH -- Director Roman Polanski has been taken into custody by Swiss police on a 31-year-old U.S. arrest warrant, organizers of the Zurich Film Festival said Sunday.

The organizers said in a statement that Polanski was detained by police Saturday in relation to a 1978 U.S. request, without giving details. Zurich police couldn't immediately confirm the information.

Polanski fled the United States in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

The 76-year-old director of such classic films as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" recently sought dismissal of his case on grounds of misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/27/AR2009092700856.html?hpid=moreheadlines

---

Didn't see this coming. Guess he didn't either.

[madokie]

1. maybe the dirty ole man deserves it

If it was my 13 year old child I'd think he'd be happy to be in custody and out of my reach. Good on the swiss on this.

A couple of kids getting it on is one thing 'cause I remember when I was a kid but when its an adult and a kid, well, you know...

[rollin74]

2. agreed

no excuse for a 44 year old man drugging and forcing himself on a 13 year old girl. He deserves to be locked up.

[Gwereeya]

15. Damn right he does!

I don't care if he invented the cure for cancer, he's a goddamn pedophile!

[madokie]

16. Damn straight and should be dealt with as one

Welcome to DU Gwereeya :hi:

[Pamela Troy]

59. Let's light torches and carry pitchforks!

The girl in the case seems to disagree with you, by the way.

[AngryAmish]

72. She doesn't get a vote in this

Because witnesses can be paid off (like she has been through her civil suit) we don't want rich, powerful men (Polanski) getting away with ass-raping 13 year old girls.

[U4ikLefty]

96. You mean like Kobe Bryant???

[lakercub]

146. Can you point to a conviction

for Kobe? You can't? Really? Kobe got railroaded. He screwed up big by having sex with the girl, but you REALLY need to read some of the stuff that went on after that act of extreme stupidity. A camera hungry DA with a dishonest girl...caught lying a couple of times in depositions. They were never going to get a conviction. Polanski plead guilty to sex with a minor...see the difference?

[paulsby]

189. i agree

the kobe case smelled from the beginning, largely due to a lack of victim credibility, and some actions by the victim after the alleged rape that were inconsistent (to put it mildly) with a rape victim's actions.

[Psephos]

157. Prolly more like R. Kelly. n/t

[No Elephants]

258. That woman was 19, not 13. And Kobe did not plead guilty in court. Apples and oranges.

[liberalitch]

3. Well, Roman serve your time, pay your debt to society,.....

then get back to work. Sorry, I like him as a director. The parole board could use his testimony here in the US to keep charlie in jail.

[orpupilofnature57]

6. I love his movies ,so what? and they don't need roman, to keep Charlie

in jail.

[Pamela Troy]

60. You do realize he already served time for this...

Right?

[Pavulon]

77. You are WRONG. He was ordered to a 90 day eval, which he skipped

he was never serving against a sentence. You are aware of that right? He fucked a 13 year old child, how the hell can you defend that.

He can serve his time and die in Butner with mr madoff.

[barb162]

261. Yes, he's a child rapist and because it happened a while back

doesn't change that fact. I have no sympathy for the prick and just because he makes great movies, well, that's nice. Child rape shall not be excused.

[24601]

283. And he was going to Zurich for a lifetime achievement award! n/t

[proteus_lives]

4. Good!

He deserves to be sent back to the US for a well-deserved prison sentence.

[martymar64]

141. It'll be a short sentence, I'm betting only a year or two, tops.

He has not committed any more crimes since this (his first offense) and cannot reasonably be considered a danger to society. It'll be a slap on the wrist.

[Scout]

320. correction. he hasn't been *caught and convicted* of any more crimes.... n/t

[orpupilofnature57]

5. Unfortunately he's a victim in the documentary 'Wanted & Desired'

and the fact he was a victim of the Holocaust ,gave him a pass ,that and the pre-Aids 70's where many sexual lines were skewed,especially around Hollywood.Still Statutory Rape is the act of a Misanthrope ,and should be punished to the fullest ,then they were going to give him a slap on the wrist ,90 day's in a county mental institution.

[aquart]

7. And then there was the trauma about his wife.

[orpupilofnature57]

8. No doubt a traumatic event ,as was him losing his parent's to nazi's

[pennylane100]

33. who does that help the 13 year old he supposedly raped.

I don't know much about the case or even if he was guilty, but in a country where we jail homeless people because they are poor, he deserves no more consideration than they do.

[orpupilofnature57]

48. No No ,that was speaking about his Trauma ,as I first stated a Misanthrope

piece of poop.

[ronnykmarshall]

50. She has stated she's against him being sent to prison.

But even though, he should have paid his debt for what he did.

[LisaL]

138. If it were up to victims to decide what to do with the accused,

we wouldn't need jury trials.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. were you there or are your retelling what you read?

Always have to check. I mean, I read each week about horrible sexual abuse of young people and most of it is in the 'heartland' not 'Hollywood' and it is current, not past. The right wing anti-cultural crap gets old and tired when the facts of say, the activities of Catholic priests in places like Boston, Seattle, etc. Hollywood of the 70's? St Vibiana's of the 90's. What's the difference? Is there one? Recently a Fed employee was arrested for selling his kid. Recently 'Hollywood' did the work your goverment refuses in the 9th Ward, in the Food Banks, in the hospices.
So. Are you reporting or repeating?

[orpupilofnature57]

20. Conveying what I saw in the Documentary ' Wanted and Desired '

Which is 100% subjective reporting ,at best.

[Doremus]

40. He already served the original sentence, 45 days.

After he served that the judge changed the sentence.

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread.

Not defending the guy but if we're going to hold opinions they should be based on facts, no?

By the way, the victim doesn't think he should be incarcerated either.

[Pavulon]

76. He was never sentenced.

that means that 45 days can be put toward his sentence when he gets it. He can serve 9 years and 10 months to make up for that time. The victim took money from him, her opinion is not important.

[CBHagman]

205. Yes, the victim has moved on, but...

...remove the famous name and the film career and then tell me that forty-some days' incarceration is a suitable punishment when a 44-year-old man has sex with a 13-year-old to whom he's given Quaaludes. The fact that it's Polanski doesn't change the disturbing nature of the crime.

[Scout]

321. charges and imprisonment are not up to the victim to decide. n/t

[No Elephants]

267. No, the 90 days was for psychiatric evaluation, prior to sentencing. He never got sentenced bc he

fled.

[Lerkfish]

9. just curious, what is the statute of limitations on that offense?

I'm reading amystery book right now which (accurate or not) says the statute of limitations on rape is 9 years in some states.

[fasttense]

10. The statue of limitation applies to prosecution of the crime.

Not if you were found guilty and fled. You are still guilty no matter how many years you are able to evade capture.

[Lerkfish]

14. thanks!

[R Hickey]

11. Once convicted, the statute of limitations doesn't apply

[Lerkfish]

13. ah, thanks! not a lawyer type, here.

[glinda]

45. Is that for all cases and charges or just for rape, murder, etc....?

If that is the case, does that mean I can bring charges against someone or something 20 years later????

[Xithras]

69. Different crimes have different limitations, and it varies by state.

In California, for example, only murder and child molestation have no limitation. Most other crimes time out between 5 and 20 years.

[WestSeattle2]

34. Statute of Limitations...

The statute of limitations starts from the time of the crime until charges are filed. When a warrant is issued, the charges have been filed and the statute of limitations no longer applies; the person can still be prosecuted at any time.

[WriteDown]

17. It's about time!

Probably would have been easier on you Roman if you served your time when you were 1st convicted.

[subcomhd]

18. And his wife's killer just died. Lots of Polansky news lately.

[hmorehead]

19. Its thirty years later and he hasn't even been accused of anything since.

Seems like he's be rehabilitated. We won't even talk of how the kids mother put the girl in front of him and never was charged with anything. In light of the really earth shattering events that have happened since in this country where people weren't even charged with anything at all - like the entire GW Bush administration - punishing Roman seems like a farce.

[pennylane100]

37. Wow, I wonder if that was your child.,

how she would feel that you could be so forgiving toward the man who raped her. I believe he plead guilty and your main concern is that her mother was never brought to justice and that rapist has not been caught raping anyone else in the last 30 years. Where is yourcompassion for a child victim of sexual abuse.

[Doremus]

41. Not judging either way, but the victim doesn't think he should be incarcerated.

[LisaL]

133. It's not up to her.

Not under US laws. We don't allow victims to decide on whether an accused should be incarcerated or not.

[ProudDad]

159. It's not up to you either (n/t)

[lakercub]

208. LisaL never said it was

You have succeeded in making no point.

[paulsby]

190. not quite true

we allow victim impact statements to be given. it's in the victims' bill of rights.

what we don't say is that if a victim doesn't want prosecution or incarceration that that is ALL that matters.

i've investigated scores of domestic violence cases where the victims don't desire prosecution. and yet, they are still prosecuted. the prosecutors take it into account (before the trial) if the victim doesn't want prosecution, but it doesn't mean they necessarily will go along with their wishes.

on an aside, what i disagree with (and happens quite frequently) is when judges issue protective orders AGAINST a "victim's" wishes.


these eliminate people's right to free association

[No Elephants]

264. Yes, it is quite true that it is not up to her. As your own post says, victim

impact statements do not determine whether or not someone goes free After a person gets convicted, the victims get a say, which may or may not affect the length of the sentence. That's all.

Victims have a right to speak out, whether for maximum punishment or none at all. This woman exercised that right. However. society does not let victims decide that someone can go free, nor does it let them decide that someone must hang.

As for protective orders: Freedom of association, like any other freedom, is not absolute. The question is more like does my desire to be within 50 feet of someone who batters me outweigh the interest of government in protecting me from battery and everything that might go with it, including harm to innocent bystanders or minors who witness the battery. For that matter, it may be that society has an interest in protecting the batterer from the consequences of his or her own battery.

[paulsby]

271. i agree

with everything except the protective order part.

i just don't think the one right outweighs the other. especially when protective orders are issued without even a criminal trial and against both party's wishes. but we can agree to disagree.

my point is that prosecutors DO take into account victim desires as to whether or not to prosecute etc. it is just a fact that what the victim desires is hardly dispositive. but it is taken into account. we are taught in our reports to specifically mention whether or not the victim desires prosecution, and make sure they say one way or another, in their statement? why? because it is relevant to the prosecutor in making their decision (the decision to charge rests solely with the prosecutor).

[No Elephants]

276. You seem bent on disagreeing. I never took a position, one way or the other, on whether

courts should issue protective orders. I only stated what the relevant question was.

I know what your point was about the victim's statement. However, your point did not contradict the other poster's point.

BTW, wasn't your prior post about victim impact statements? Aren't those are given to a judge after a guilty verdict?

Now, you seem to be talking about the victim's wishes influencing a prosecutor's decision whether to prosecute, which is an entirely different issue from letting someone who pled to one felony out of six, then left the country, go entirely free. That is the fact pattern that the other poster was addressing, not prosecutorial discretion.

Edited to add: by "the other poster," I mean LisaL.



.

[Demoiselle]

43. Is it possible that he was duped...to some extent?

I vaguely remember stories at the time that the girl's mother had pretty much offered her daughter to Polanski and told him she was 16 (or whatever the age of consent is), then charged him with rape later. It sounded like an extortion plot to me then. I certainly don't mean to imply that what he did was ok. To have sex with a very young person even in the circumstances I've just described is pretty bad. Still....

[No Elephants]

265. For that matter, how did he know the woman was her mother and not her pimp?

The law leaves it up to the older person to make sure he or she is not breaking the law. You are not allowed to take anyone's word for it. Besides, who duped him into giving her booze and pills?

BTW, according to ths website below, stories at the time say the mother thought the deal was about a photo shoot, period. (I say according to the website bc the website shows the articles, but I have no way of knowing if the website reproduced the articles accurately.)

"He said Polanski took some pictures at a first photographic session two weeks ago, and among these pictures was one of the girl nude from the waist up.

He said the mother became angry when she saw the picture and questioned her daughter when she returned home from the second photographic session Thursday night. "

http://www.vachss.com/mission/roman_polanski.html

[hmorehead]

156. I've been waiting for this comment, thank you.

1. That's why interested parties do not arrest, prosecute, judge, or sit on juries.
2. Most importantly, that is why unlike that girl's mother I did not go out of my way to leave my daughters alone with men who could promote my aspirations for either myself or my daughters. And she did this with all of her daughters. If she wasn't explicetly looking for this situation she certainly had to understand its possibility. She was at least an accessory before the fact by the very least a culpable negligence.

Lets be clear: adults who have sexual contact with minors use force of physicality, or personality or exploit emotional condition of the child and it is wrong. But not neccesarily is it every time a jailable offence. I happen to feel that Polanski has extenuating cercumstances of himself and the victim that speak for this all to be dropped. Even the victim wants it dropped.

I think Kinski was another thing altogether and might be acceptable in the circles the Polanski and the Kinskis traveled in. Remember the origional Blind Faith album cover? I happen to like it, but I can understand why some people might think it pornography.

[LibDemAlways]

46. Even the victim has declared that she's done with this. She's 45,

married, and a mom, and just wants to live her life out of the spotlight.

I agree that her own mother showed incredibly poor judgment allowing her daughter to go off on a modeling shoot with a Hollywood director in his forties. Doesn't excuse his behavior, though. But I agree with you. The state of California is broke. Polanski is 76 years old. He has kept out of trouble. It serves little purpose to revisit this, but the pressure to punish him now that he's in custody will be great, and it's yet another excuse for the media whores to ignore important stuff.

[LisaL]

Again, it's not up to her.

[LibDemAlways]

151. I realize that, but I'm hoping a judge will take her viewpoint into

consideration.

[No Elephants]

266. If she wants to live her life out of the spotlight, why is she on TV now?

And if punishing him now serves no purpose, why do we ever punish fugitives?

If nothing else, catching up with someone who has escaped tells fugitives and would be fugitives, "Don't think running away is your way out of being punished. You'll live in fear for the rest of your life AND we may catch up with you at some point anyway. Better to stick around and get it over with."

[msanthrope]

100. He slept Nastassja Kinski when she was 15, and he was in his late 40s.

So the behavior continued, even if he wasn't charged.

[No Elephants]

260. On that standard, we should not punish anyone for anyone. Unlock the jails.

[No Elephants]

277. Why do you claim he has been rehabiitated? And what does the mother have to do with this? Nothing

requires a prosecutor to prosecute everyone in sight. Besides, according to this website, the mother thought it was a photo shoot, period. http://www.vachss.com/mission/roman_polanski.html (The website purports to reproduce newspaper stories of the time, but I have no way of knowing if they are reproduced correctly. However, one says:

"In addition to the rape charges, Polanski also was booked on suspicion of sodomy, child molestation and furnishing dangerous drugs to a minor. He was released on $2,500 bond pending his arraignment March 18.

Nicholson was reportedly out of town at the time. A spokesman for the district attorney's office told reporters that Polanski recently met the girl's mother and arranged for the girl to pose for some photographs for the French edition of Vogue magazine.

He said Polanski took some pictures at a first photographic session two weeks ago, and among these pictures was one of the girl nude from the waist up.

He said the mother became angry when she saw the picture and questioned her daughter when she returned home from the second photographic session Thursday night. Officers said the girl told her mother that Polanski had given her a tablet of the powerful tranquilizing drug Quaalude.

The director then raped the girl and forced her to commit various sex acts with him, police said."

[martymar64]

142. And John Waters is trying to free another of the Manson killers, Leslie Van Houten

Let's see him try to say his BS to the Tate or LaBianca families.

[jeffbr]

21. Swiss arrest Polanski on US request in sex case

Source: Associated Press

Swiss arrest Polanski on US request in sex case
By ERNST E. ABEGG and BRADLEY S. KLAPPER

ZURICH — Director Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police for possible extradition to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl, authorities said Sunday. Polanski was flying in to receive an honorary award at the Zurich Film Festival when he was apprehended Saturday at the airport, the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement. It said U.S. authorities have sought the arrest of the 76-year-old around the world since 2005.

"There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming," ministry spokesman Guido Balmer told The Associated Press. "That's why he was taken into custody." Balmer said the U.S. would now be given time to make a formal extradition request.

Polanski fled the U.S. in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with the underage girl. The director of such classic films as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" has asked a U.S. appeals court in California to overturn a judges' refusal to throw out his case. He claims misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it...

Polanski has faced a U.S. arrest request since 1978 and has lived for the past three decades in France, where his career has continued to flourish. He received a directing Oscar in absentia for the 2002 movie "The Pianist." He was not extradited from France because his crime reportedly was not covered under the U.S.'s treaties with the country.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iRnW_PP9RtYpGgoc5KZiwY84hjrQD9AVMBBG0

[WriteDown]

22. Finally!

:thumbsup:

[Ian David]

27. I can finally sleep with my windows open at night knowing Roman Polanski is in jail.

:sarcasm:

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. He raped a child

He needs to be in jail.

[WriteDown]

47. But he's FAMOUS!

:sarcasm:

[Pamela Troy]

61. He already spent time in jail.

And the girl involved has said that she doesn't want him incarcerated.

[Dappleganger]

66. It doesn't matter what she thinks

It's no longer about HER, it's about the fact he fled the country to evade more prison time and he's arranged his life to avoid arrest ever since.

[Pamela Troy]

70. He left the country because the judge was playing

games with him to the point where even the prosecutor was appalled.

[Pavulon]

78. He could leave because jesus told him too, or because the judge was mean

that has no bearing on his action in the eyes of the law. He will receive a sentence, and he will serve it. He could have appealed his plea for raping a child or skipped town.

[madmusic]

88. A plea bargain is a contract and defendants give up all their constitutional rights

Some DUers don't care about the Constitution unless the Right disrespects it, but a defendant can expect the judge to uphold a plea bargain once the prosecution gets what it wants by the waiving of constitutional rights.

When there is a plea bargain, the court can reject the agreement but it cannot change the terms of the agreement unless the parties agree. (People v. Segura (2008) 44 Cal.4th 921, 931; People v. Superior Court (Gifford) (1997) 53 Cal.App.4th 1333.)

We'll see how this plays out.

[Pavulon]

90. Was there a signed plea accepted by the court?

if not your 7th grader raping buddy will probably die in prison.

[madmusic]

92. I don't know. Was there?

He may walk.

[Pavulon]

95. no record of a sentence, only that he bailed on his agreement.

that may make it void. either way he will be doing federal time.

[madmusic]

99. That will be tough with both his victim and his prosecutor supporting him

Can a defendant flee a void sentence and can the feds still have jurisdiction over interstate flight if the sentence was void?

The real point is that he gave up his constitutional rights based on a plea agreement. The judge was going to renege on that agreement, so he should retain his constitutional rights and the case should start all over if the agreement should not be enforced.

Whether he is subject to federal jurisdiction for jumping bail is an interesting and open question. What are the guidelines for that?

[Pavulon]

104. Not sure, but I doubt the JD will bother to extradite him

to find out they do not have a case. Roman is in deep shit and will server time for drugging and raping a 7th grader. Sounds like a win to me.

If the case starts all over and the agreement is thrown out he has 4 charges to deal with.

[madmusic]

108. They will extradite no matter how strong the case is today

Read the comments here for why, including yours.

[mountainvue]

150. California will absolutely extradite. n/t

[No Elephants]

287. He fled PRIOR to sentencing. And his remedy was an appeal, not flight.

[madmusic]

102. Was the plea for a misdomeanor or a felony?

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 49 > § 1073

§ 1073. Flight to avoid prosecution or giving testi­mony

Whoever moves or travels in interstate or foreign commerce with intent either
(1) to avoid prosecution, or custody or confinement after conviction, under the laws of the place from which he flees, for a crime, or an attempt to commit a crime, punishable by death or which is a felony under the laws of the place from which the fugitive flees, or

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001073----000-.html

[Pavulon]

106. Felony Rape. Skipped bail too(nt)

[madmusic]

109. Felony rape was specified in the plea?

Skipping bail wouldn't be part of the plea agreement, of course, lol.

[Pavulon]

113. That was one of the felonies

he pled to, however no sentence was handed down. He skipped town before that part. Probably when he figured out felonies come with jail.

[madmusic]

116. I can't find proof it was a felony.

Some can be a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the sentence. Did he expect a misdemeanor and the judge was going to change it to a felony in violation of the plea? Is that how the felony warrant happened? I don't know, but it probably was a felony. Did find this:

"Having reviewed all the evidence in this case, there was substantial misconduct that occurred in the pendency of this case," said Espinoza (the judge). But he said that if Polanski wants a ruling on that underlying issue, "He just needs to submit to the jurisdiction of this court."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/18/roman-polanski-loses-cour_n_167828.html

He should have returned then but the comments at the Huffington Post help explain why he didn't.

[Pavulon]

118. felony.

so the felony he pled guilty to can be dismissed. leaving the other charges. He pled to a lesser charge.

http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/polanski/capolanski31977ind.html

[madmusic]

120. Thanks, but what matters is the plea, not the charges

He may try to have the original plea bargain enforced, whatever it was.

[Pavulon]

121. That was a felony too..

so he is going to do prison time.

[madmusic]

129. Maybe, unless the plea was for no prison time.

And it is enforced. We don't know if the prosecution can withdraw that plea given the circumstances. One judge already found misconduct on the part of the sentencing judge, the prosecutor from back then says there was misconduct and the victim filed a motion to dismiss.

The case has a lot of legal baggage.

[Pavulon]

131. The flight was a felony

so either way he is going to be wearing jail jumpers.

[martymar64]

143. A year in Club Fed and then back to France a free man

[No Elephants]

293. Do the comments on Huffpo explain why he fled? Proof that it was a felony:

"A grand jury has indicted Roman Polanski, director of "Rosemary's Baby" and other macabre movies, on six counts of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl at actor Jack Nicholson's home.

Conviction on the charges lodged Thursday could send Polanski to prison for up to 50 years. Polanski, 43, remained free on $2,000 bail and was given until Tuesday to surrender in Superior Court. Prosecutors said Polanski's attorney told them he would appear before then.

The grand jury indictment superseded charges brought March 11 when the director was arrested in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where he was staying.

The grand jury charged Polanski with giving a drug to a minor, committing a lewd act upon a person less than 14, rape of a minor, rape by use of a drug, oral copulation and sodomy. All the charges are felonies."



Then:



"Movie director Roman Polanski was ordered to undergo examination by two court-appointed psychiatrists in Los Angeles to determine if he should be institutionalized as a "mentally disordered sex offender" for allegedly having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski, 43, pleaded guilty to one of six charges facing him, thereby avoiding a trial.

The movie director was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor at the request of the girl's mother, who wanted to protect her daughter from the publicity expected to accompany such a trial.

The prosecution agreed to dismiss five other charges, including two more serious counts—furnishing drugs to a minor and rape by use of drugs.

The results of the psychiatric examinations will help determined whether Polanski will be deported as an undesirable alien."

All the charges facing him were felonies and he pled guilty to one of the charges facing him. Ergo, the charge to which he pled guilty was a felony.


The excerpts above are from news stories from the time, reproduced at this website: http://www.vachss.com/mission/roman_polanski.html

[No Elephants]

288. He was charged with six felonies. He pled to one count of unlawful sex, a felony.

[No Elephants]

286. Did the court accept the agreement? If so, which terms of the agreement

did the court accept, then dishonor?

All I can find is that the court ordered 90 days in a mental institution for a psychiatric evaluattion, to see if Polansky should be sentenced as a mentally deranged person or not; and Polanski fled after 42 days.

[pitohui]

202. christ even the fucking VICTIM is appalled

when even the woman in question is saying, enough, i think maybe it's time to honor her wishes and agree, enough

why are we being served up w. this shiny distraction piece of crap today?

maybe all those news stories about the terra-ists they caught a short while back who were planning another 911 attack even tho they didn't have any weapons are proving to be such horseshit...so...quick...look over there!

[No Elephants]

285. Link?

I know Polanski claimed that he fled because the judge dishonored the plea agreement. (IIRC, that was to Mike Wallace.) However, that is not what he seems to have said at the time. At he time, he said he had suffered for a year and that was enough. And, by that, he meant from the time he was accused until he fled. He did not serve a year.

I cannot even find tha the judge ever approved the plea agreement. Without the judge's approval, the plea agreement is not binding.

Finally, Polanski fled before he was sentenced. That being the case, how could he know what the judge was going to do?

You may want to take a look at some of the articles written at the time, reproduced at this website.

http://www.vachss.com/mission/roman_polanski.html

[ProudDad]

160. It doesn't matter what YOU think either (n/t)

[Xithras]

73. Ah yes, 42 days for drugging and forcibly raping a 13 year old girl. Yep, that'll teach him.

People tend to forget the actual circumstances. He plied her with alcohol & drugs, and yet she still refused his advances. She told him no repeatedly, and only shut up when she realized that she resigned herself to the fact that she was going to be raped. She was crying and was telling him to stop, and yet he did it anyway. When she pointed out that she could get pregnant, he pulled out and raped her in the ass.

Yeah, 42 days is justice. Fuck Polanski. I'm thoroughly disgusted with DUers who would let him off. Apparently child rape is OK with some DU progressives, if the rapist is famous and manages to dodge law enforcement long enough.

[martymar64]

144. Jack Nicholson was an accessory

It happened at his house and has defended Polanski since then. Yet he walks scot-free.

[paulsby]

191. rubbish

nicholson was out of town. he gave polanski use of his house, but unless you have knowledge that he did so with the knowledge, the polanski was going to ass-fuck a 13 yr old there, he wasn't an accessory.

defending somebody's actions after the fact (iow making arguments for lenient treatment etc.) does not meet the definition of accessory.

know the law.

[Dappleganger]

149. Agreed, it's disgusting

how many here are defending this rapist who ran away like a yellow-bellied coward.

This man has earned millions, is a hero in the eyes of many in the film industry and yet he cannot do this one right thing. Fuck him.

[ProudDad]

161. You're silly

:eyes:

[Xithras]

203. And why is that?

You think that 42 days is enough for a man who vaginally and anally raped a drugged 13 year old girl while she cried and pleaded for him to stop?

[msanthrope]

86. He did 42 days under psychiatric observation. Not exactly hard time. n/t

[No Elephants]

262. I don't think he did. I think he was sent for evaluation, then fled before the evauation was

complete.

As for the girl, she collected money in a civil lawsuit. We do not let victims decide who should and should not be punished, whether or not the accused has paid them.

[No Elephants]

279. Self delete Duplicate response

.

[Nye Bevan]

38. Are you a pre-pubescent girl?

If not, you didn't have much to worry about anyway. Child rapists are usually afraid to mess with adult men.

[elocs]

23. This earth shattering story was the lead this morning on NBC's Today Show.

It was just that important.

[paulsby]

192. of course it's that important

a famous, celebrated man, who ran from a serious felony charge 30 yrs ago, is finally caught.

it's a HUGE story.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

24. About time - it's been 30 years nt

[Ian David]

26. If we wait this long to arrest Bush and Cheney they'll be long since gone. n/t

[Sarah Ibarruri]

28. I'm all for arresting all 3. If ever Cheney and Bush are arrested, I swear to you...

I will throw a frikkin PARTY to celebrate. Music, catering, you name it!

[Ian David]

25. Our long, national nightmare is over. The man who made "Pirates" has been arrested.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

29. Let's see if you're male or female....

Ooops. That explains it.

(not completely, as most males are not for forgiving acts of pedophilia)

[Ian David]

36. Not that I FORGIVE him. Just that I thought we were "looking forward, not backwards." n/t

[Sarah Ibarruri]

39. It's not about backwards or forwards

It's that if we go around playing the forgiveness game with pedophiles, well, they already have a propensity to want to rape children, and will see that there are no repercussions to doing so.

[ProudDad]

163. There's an actual definition of "pedophile"

perhaps you should look it up...:shrug:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

187. Whether he's been officially declared one by some physician, or he merely raped a girl

It's different sides of the same coin

[Sarah Ibarruri]

188. Also, he admitted he raped the 13 year old - are there several ways to look at that rape?

And is there an innocent one? Was he forced to, at gun point?

I think not.

[barb162]

263. Thank you. Seems as if some people around here try to

get around the fact that a felony against a child was committed. No matter how you look at it , it is a serious matter, a crime.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

302. Exactly. Also, talented people who are criminals, are still criminals, talent or not

If you hurt someone, you hurt someone. I don't care if you are the greatest artist, singer, actor, politician, or what have you. Go to prison and serve your frikkin' time.

[No Elephants]

284. Doesn't matter if he is a pedophile or a Prince Charming. The issue is simply, how old was she at

the time?

[AlbertCat]

49. Let's see if you're male or female....

Oh puleeze!

Yes, because I'm male, I think child rape is no big deal. You got me! We all think exactly the same way.

Must be that "woman's intuition" thing! Women aren't any good at math or business, but boy! can they bake cookies and figure out the male mind! It's amazing!

[No Elephants]

289. Women aren't good at math or business? Larry, is that you?

[Pamela Troy]

65. So the girl involved is male?

Whodathunkit?

[Name removed]

145. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProudDad]

162. You're silly (n/t)

[LTR]

56. Well, he also directed "Chinatown"

One of my favorite all-time movies.

And he sliced Jack Nicholson's nose.

[TankLV]

35. Only question is - why NOW?!!! Why has it taken this long?

Maybe there IS hope that bush* and his regime WILL be SUCCESSFULLY prosecuted for their WAR CRIMES?

[AlbertCat]

51. why NOW?!!! Why has it taken this long?

Is Kissinger next?

[Pamela Troy]

62. Uh...When was Kissinger ever put in jail for his crimes?

It's taken this long because the judge involved in the case decided to play games to the point where even the prosecutor was appalled.

And the girl involved has no interest in seeing Polanski incarcerated further and has said so.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

91. Did Kissinger ever drug and rape a 13yo?

[depakid]

119. It's pretty obvious that the Swiss are throwing the American "burn 'em at the stake crowd" a bone

in order to deflect some of the criticism off of their own safe harboring for international fat cats who've done far worse and more comprehensive damage to millions of people that they've in essence- stolen from.

Whether it's a smart move politically or not- we shall see.

[paulsby]

193. rubbish

can we cut the crap?

i'm hardly a burn them at the stake guy.

i think mj should be legalized. i think way too much stuff is criminalized.

but thinking that a man who drugged and raped a 13 yr old should actually be punished does not make me a "burn them at the stake" type.

the man committed a heinous crime and justice demands he serve some time.

[No Elephants]

290. We have a treaty with them that requires them to do this; and we asked them to do it.

If they refused, they would be in violation of the treaty.

[kirby]

31. From the article..

The victim, Samantha Geimer, who long ago identified herself publicly, has joined in Polanski's bid for dismissal, saying she wants the case to be over. She sued Polanski and reached an undisclosed settlement.

[LisaL]

136. So what is your point?

It's not up to her.
She reportedly settled civilly. The state didn't.

[ProudDad]

165. so what's you point?

It's not up to you either...

[kirby]

200. My point?

I was highlighting the 'point' of the actual victim. Apparently that does not matter to most in this thread. In my mind, her 'point' accounts for about 95% of the situation.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

42. Good. Let justice be served.

"in preparation for a possible extradition to the United States based on an arrest warrant dating to 1978"...

...send him here, let him stand trial for the original charge as well as his previous "exit strategy."

[Pamela Troy]

63. What, exactly, do you know about his case?

Are you aware that he's already served time in jail?

That the girl who was involved has no interest in seeing him incarcerated further?

[Dappleganger]

67. He served what

a whole fucking 30 days in jail? Then he ran away and has tried to avoid arrest every since that time.

It's no longer about raping a 13 yr. old girl.

[Pamela Troy]

71. He "ran away" because the judge kept making agreements with him

and then breaking them. Even the prosecutor was disgusted.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

147. But what he did isn't an option in our legal system

If, in fact, "the judge kept making agreements with him and then breaking them," that didn't give him the legal right to take a hike.

He had the means and the money to run away. The prosecutor's "disgust" is no match for the disgust that most people, myself included, have for the incident that got him into trouble in the first place.

I stand by my original comments. If Polanski didn't like the way he was treated, then boo hoo hoo for him. I hope they bring him back to the United States so that he can enlighten us all, since we are clearly in need of enlightenment in this situation.

[Dappleganger]

148. He's still a criminal and a coward.

Running away instead of fighting.

[ProudDad]

167. Big Talk from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about (n/t)

[Dappleganger]

207. And you're just a name on the internet

Your personal attacks don't make any difference to me.

[Scout]

322. gee "ProudDad" would your tune change if he raped your daughter up the ass

after drugging her?

[No Elephants]

295. Where are you getting that the judge kept making agreements with him?

[ProudDad]

166. Last time I looked ... it's NOT your call... (n/t)

[Dappleganger]

209. Fleeing the country

is what prompted his arrest. Not my call but the justice dept. Your problem is with THEM pursuing the law which applies even to rich Hollywood producers.

[Scout]

323. can you possibly think of something new to spam with?

NONE OF US are saying it is our call, so fucking get off it, will you?

jesus h christ on a fucking pogo stick.

[Odin2005]

105. Child rapists should send the rest of their lives in prison.

[TankLV]

310. At least you're consistent in all these threads.

I can't say I can totally disagree with you, but you're opinion makes me cringe...

Laws and the punishment we have determined is already set.

That would be whole nother debate as to what punishment would be sufficient for rape.

I'm not so sure prison for life would be a proper punishment, but maybe some sort of living arrangement whereby they are forever watched and guarded tightly.

Rape is such a horrible crime...

Maybe if the victum agreed to forgive, etc. or wanted to extend the punishment, their say should have some weight.

But what then would constitute cruel and unusual punishment?

I don't have an answer to this one...

[No Elephants]

291. So far, not one "fact" you posted on this thread has checked out, except the one about the .

victim saying she'd prefer not to be in a spotlight again.

[AlphaCentauri]

44. This is an Alert for the previous administration, what about if the Iraqis

serve arrest warrants for the previous administration officials

[AnOhioan]

52. Polanski arrested in connection with 1970s sex charge

Source: CNN

Oscar-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski has been arrested in Switzerland on a decades-old arrest warrant stemming from a sex charge in California, Swiss police said Sunday.

Polanski, 76, was taken into custody trying to enter Switzerland on Saturday, Zurich police said. A spokesman for the Swiss Justice Ministry said Polanski was arrested upon arrival at the airport.

He has lived in France for decades to avoid being arrested if he enters the United States and declined to appear in person to collect his Academy Award for Best Director for "The Pianist" in 2003.

The director pleaded guilty in 1977 to a single count of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, acknowledging he had sex with a 13-year-old girl. But he fled the United States before he could be sentenced, and U.S. authorities have had a warrant for his arrest since 1978.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/27/zurich.roman.polanski.arrested/index.html

[truthisfreedom]

53. God, I kept reading that as "sex change."

Amazing they finally nabbed him on that.

[LTR]

54. Switzerland actually ARRESTS people on U.S. warrants?

Weird, considering their lax banking laws that allow all kinds of illegal money to be washed through their banks.

So, does this mean Polanski can come back to the U.S.?

[MilesColtrane]

55. Fuck him.

[Pamela Troy]

64. OOOOOH! How tough! How Clint Eastwoodesque!

What do you know about this case?

[Pavulon]

75. Gave a 13 year old CHILD booze and ludes

then he fucked her. How complicated is that. He can pay her later as a civil matter but the state still has the ability to prosecute the crime.

[MilesColtrane]

140. Enough to say, "Fuck him".

[ProudDad]

170. Ahhh. Nothing, eh? (n/t)

[paulsby]

194. i know the case inside and out

i've read pages and pages of court documents (they are online and quite interesting).

roman polanski deserves time in prison.

he provided alcohol and ludes to a 13 yr old girl and then anally raped her.

fuck him!

[Howardx]

259. polanski pled guilty

your continued defense of him here is sickening and morally bankrupt. he admitted guilt. end of story.

[pinniped]

306. All fucking rapists should fry. Fuck him.

.

[wuushew]

57. This will cost California money it doesn't have

is the greater good being served?

[Nye Bevan]

58. You're absolutely right.

Child rapists who go on the lam for more than 5 years should receive an automatic pardon. :eyes:

[Pavulon]

74. What is the greater good, the guy raped her. He has since paid her a sim of money

however when you commit a criminal act you can not just pay the victim and call it a day. The state can decide if drugging and raping a 13 year old is worth prosecuting.

[oldcoot]

319. Do you think Susan Atkins should have been paroled before her death?

Although she committed brutal and horrible crimes, there is evidence that she reformed in her later years and actually tried to do some good. While her behavior could have all been an act, she was still in no physical condition to harm anyone. No doubt it would have been cheaper for the state to release her to avoid paying her medical bills. Do you think she should have been paroled to save the state money?

[Cleita]

68. So how about Nastassja Kinski?

At 15 Kinski began a romantic relationship with director Roman Polanski.<6><7> Polanski urged her to study acting with Lee Strasberg in the United States and cast her in his film, Tess (1979). In 1981, photographer Richard Avedon photographed Kinski with a serpent coiled around her naked body.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nastassja_Kinski

Apparently the thirteen year old wasn't his only teenage conquest.

[Rozlee]

82. I have a 14-year old grand daughter and the thought of her being in an adult sexual relationship

makes me feel sick. But, by the same token, my great-grand mother got married when she was 12 and her sister did, too. They married widowers and took care of their large families by the previous wife and no one thought any thing about it. That was just the way things were done. Makes you understand why maternal mortality rates were so high in those days. My grandmother got married around the turn of the last century at the age of 15 and died at 25 years of age from an abscessed tooth. My grandfather remarried another 15-year-old and lost her to childbirth. The age of consent in Texas until about the 1940's was 10 years old. Of, course, no one got married that young by then, just in the pioneer days. And the reason the Suffragette movement originally started was that it developed from groups organized by women fighting to change the laws regarding child marriages.

[paulsby]

195. just for the record

i used to live in hawaii, and the age of consent there was 14. i heard they changed it.

regardless, polanski is a piece of shit who desrves to be in prison

i think a couple of years would be reasonable

[depakid]

79. Americans must be satiated with their pounds of flesh

As the nation slides inexorably into third world status- my hope is that some of you will recognize your own contributions to the decline through your obsession with punishment, irrational fears and lack of proportionality that's led you to support the world's largest and most expensive prison system.

[Pavulon]

81. He drugged and raped a child? are you mentally impaired? thats a 7th grader

and a 44 year old man. If i go wherever you are and go fuck someone's CHILD and then leave to avoid punishment how is that right? Our prisons are full of drug offenders, which is stupid. They should make room for rapists.

You post is asinine.

[depakid]

83. It's the national obsession vengence that's cost your nation its soul

and TONS of money besides that... more in many places than higher education- and its bankrupting states.

My own opinion is that

1. It's easy to see how and why you became a nation of torturers; and

2. That you richly deserve your fate.

[Name removed]

85. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[depakid]

87. Frank and honest

You have more people in prisons per capita AND in raw numbers than China, Russia or India. You put juveniles in prison FOR LIFE- and many states (and most people in the US) would gladly execute them.

Only a weak and cowardly society behaves like this- and such societies deserve their fate, which they've brought on themselves- in part due to the drag the prison/industrial complex (as well as the fragmented health care "system") places on your economy.

And don't think the two aren't related through the attitudes your punishment obsession cultivates.

Thus, who is the moron? The one who cuts off his nose to spite his face in order to exact a pound of flesh? Or the one what recognizes the deleterious effects and controls their primitive emotions?

[Pavulon]

89. Pretty sure child rape is not legal where you are..

so lets tighten up this conversation. What do YOU think should be done with a person who drugs and rapes a child?

[depakid]

94. Pretty sure the incident occurred many years ago

and that Polanski's not any threat to society at all and has also had to deal with consequences in his own family and career.

But of course- that's not enough- indeed- nothing EVER seems to be enough for Americans (which is why you have people incarcerated for life for stealing pizza, etc.). It's why you had little problem embracing torture or invading Iraq and inflicting so many causalities- with no concern in the media for innocent Iraqi civilians.

Someone had to pay....

So, yeah- you deserve the third world status the nation is headed toward. It's the legacy of your own attitudes and actions. Just as so many think that this criminal act or that requires 25 years behind bars.

Other nations don't behave this way- and, not coincidentally, they have health care, much healthier economies, better educational systems, less income inequality and higher standards of living.

[Pavulon]

97. Are you saying this is not a criminal act?

. Your post seems to express that. Maybe you made a grammar error. If i break a major law then leave for a while, that does not impact the crime. If you live in the uk or a former colony you know this. This is not a health care debate, or an assessment of us policy.

This is about a child rapist who fled to avoid jail time.

[depakid]

111. Nothing of the sort

Just making a comment about your ceaseless lust for a pound of flesh- your obsession with punishment and inability to distinguish justice from vengeance- all of which stem from a deeply dysfunctional set of attitudes, beliefs and values that have been leading the nation into decline.

The trend lines all point that direction- and the comparison with other nations in the literature of collapse (or with respect to Kevin Phillip's American Theocracy or Paul Kennedy's Decline of Great Powers -the literature of decline from international economic prominence) is astonishing.

And when one reads many of the comments here on these sorts of threads- or worse- on newspaper comment sections- it's difficult to have much collective sympathy for such a people. Any more than most Americans (or their- or their media) have sympathy for the nations that they've repeatedly abused over the years- or for their own citizens who they incarcerate in unprecedented numbers- or their own kids whose education that they defund- and subject to bizarre "zero tolerance" policies.

[Pavulon]

114. You are all over the place. If someone visits NSW and rapes a kid

then skip town, they will see that the person extradited back if the opportunity arises. Serving time for raping a kid is a reasonable thing.

[depakid]

123. Hardly-

It's simply a bigger picture- that goes well beyond this particular incident or thread, though it pays to remember both the times when this occurred- and also the fact that there HAVE been consequences (just not 25 years behind bars or worse).

Guy's been exiled from Hollywood- and considering the current situation ought to have considered that the Swiss are under a bit of pressure at the moment from the US.

Unlike some, I'm not so easily manipulated by base emotion or the lust for vengeance at whatever cost- which makes seeing forest from the trees much less of an effort. You can look at any of a number of criminal justice threads on DU (an ostensibly progressive board) and get a gauge of how far people are willing to go- all the way to advocating torture. And seriously doing so- not simply venting.

You allow the outrage at one individual or another to short circuit your reasoning process. You lose all sense of proportionality or mitigating circumstances. You fail to see how this tendency harms your society- or even harms you as an individual over time.

All the while, fat cats and the cronies on both sides of the aisle are laughing at your panem et circenses- and encouraging them.

[Pavulon]

127. Nope, this is a simple one.

guy raped a 7th grader, fled to avoid jail and now gets to serve his time. No more , no less.

Mitigation is taken into account at sentencing, he fled before we got to that part.

[depakid]

132. Ever the simplistic

Americans want Polanski in prison (and wish torture on him) for the rest of his life- even though the girl involved clearly doesn't.

That's the nature of the people here in the 21st Century- as it was in the 19th. What makes it even more impressive is that it's found in such vehement display on an ostensibly progressive message board.

[Pavulon]

135. Torture him, please elaborate...

most people dont try to equate progressive views with acceptance of ass raping a 7th grade girl. Not related.

[depakid]

137. Ah, now we get the framing

If only Democrats knew how to do this sort of deal in their policy fights.

They might win a few, without having to water everything down to Republican specifications.

[PavePusher]

318. Do you have a underage daughter or grand-daughter?

If they were raped, what would you suggest happen to the rapist?

[No Elephants]

292. Please cite the reply numbers on this thread that back up your claim.

"Americans want Polanski in prison (and wish torture on him) for the rest of his life- even though the girl involved clearly doesn't.

That's the nature of the people here in the 21st Century- as it was in the 19th. What makes it even more impressive is that it's found in such vehement display on an ostensibly progressive message board."

Which reply numbers on this thread urge prison for life and indicate a desire that he be tortured for the rest of his life while in prison?

[Scout]

327. if you're so disgusted with us all, and look down on Americans so,

perhaps you should find a board to hang out on where your sensibilities aren't so offended.

[Nye Bevan]

153. Just a guess....

I suspect you do not have a pre-pubescent daughter.

I do, which is why I am unmoved by your complaints about "base emotion", "lust for vengeance", etc.

It's pretty simple. If you don't want to go to jail, don't rape pre-pubescent children. And I don't see how going on the lam for a long time constitutes "mitigating circumstances" or requires "proporionality".

[ProudDad]

171. Irrelevant (n/t)

[depakid]

275. Just a guess

that you haven't read the facts of the case... and are instead reacting on your own emotions.

[paulsby]

197. rubbish

EXILED?

he's been living comfortably in france, making movies, being feted at cannes, etc.

he's lived a great life, free from consequences, because he has money and celebrity.

justice needs ot be served.

give him a couple of years in prison and then he can do whatever he wants

[Scout]

326. "exiled from Hollywood"

i can't decide if you are pathetic or laughable

[depakid]

124. dupe- delete

[Name removed]

176. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Scout]

325. he's saying that if you get away with it long enough, and if you had to suffer in your

personal and professional life, well, that's enough!! poor baby-raper, how much should he have to suffer?

[ProudDad]

173. Here, Here! You nailed it

The USAmerikan is generally a bloodthirsty beast when it's someone else's hide...

The word in English is hypocrite. The most hypocritical nation on Earth.

[Scout]

324. thank you for the voice of perfection and wisdom from Australia

we know you are all so perfect there, and your society is flourishing, and all people are treated equally, and there is no disease, and the prisons are empty, and no one is hungry, no one is raped, or beaten, or robbed...

take your perfection and shove it up your tight ass, 'k? :hi:

[Pavulon]

98. "That you richly deserve your fate." deserve has nothing to do with this

the guy raped a little kid. What is the punishment for this act?

[proteus_lives]

125. depakid as the snide foreigner, right on cue.

Hates America so much he's willing to play the role of rape-apologist.

[WildEyedLiberal]

169. Sick, isn't it?

[ProudDad]

174. Yep, bloodthirsty USAmerikans are incredibly sick...(n/t)

[WildEyedLiberal]

179. It's "bloodthirsty" to expect child rapists to serve their prison sentence?

[ProudDad]

181. He already did

and the judge jerked him around...

Read the article, that's what eyes are for...

[WildEyedLiberal]

183. 42 days is less than most people would serve for a battery conviction

Six weeks in prison for child rape is not justice.

[ProudDad]

185. Take it up with the judge then

don't bug decent people on this thread about it...

Or Polanski...

[WildEyedLiberal]

186. "Bug decent people"?

This is a discussion forum. If you don't want to discuss THIS issue, find a different thread. For God's sake.

[No Elephants]

296. He did not already serve his time. He fled before sentencing.

The original judge ordered him into a mental hospital for 90 days to evaluate whether he should be sentenced as "a mentally deranged person." After 42 days, however, Polanski fled the country. (I know CNN says it was a maximum security prison, but articles from the 1970's say a mental institution. Either way, he was not doing his time. He was in for evaluation to see how he should be sentenced.)


Also, there seems to conflicting info on the net as to whether the judge engaged in misconduct. A Huffpo story goes so far as to say another judge found misconduct on the part of the first judge. However, that is all it says. No further explanation and no support cited.

However, in a USA Today story, the lawyer is quoted as saying in court recently that misconduct is evident from the record--nothing about a second judge ruling.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2009-05-07-polanski-case_N.htm



This article even says the prosecutor and the defendant THOUGHT they had reached an agreement. It doesn't say the judge ever approved it and the second judge never got to the merits re: misconduct:

According to court documents, Polanski, his lawyer and the prosecutor thought they'd worked out a deal that would spare Polanski from prison and let the young victim avoid a public trial.

"But the original judge in the case, who is now dead, first sent the director to maximum-security prison for 42 days while he underwent psychological testing. Then, on the eve of his sentencing, the judge told attorneys he was inclined to send Polanski back to prison for another 48 days.

Polanski fled the United States for France, where he was born.

In the February hearing, Espinoza mentioned a documentary film that depicts backroom deals between prosecutors and a media-obsessed judge who was worried his public image would suffer if he didn't send Polanski to prison.

"It's hard to contest some of the behavior in the documentary was misconduct," said Espinoza.

But he declined to dismiss the case entirely.

Legal experts said such a ruling would have been extremely rare.

<snip>


Following Espinoza's ruling earlier this year, Geimer's lawyer, Larry Silver, said he was disappointed and that Espinoza "did not get to the merits and consider the clear proof of both judicial and prosecutorial corruption."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/27/zurich.roman.polanski.arrested/index.html

He left the country rather than serve 48 days?

I don't think this case is as cut and dried as either side seems so sure of.

[closeupready]

278. I'd be curious as to his thoughts on Marc Dutroux.

Given a live sentence, but for what? The crimes are over, he is sorry. Isn't that enough?! Perhaps Belgians are 'obsessed' with punishment? :sarcasm:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Dutroux#Abductions_and_arrest

[No Elephants]

294. Yet wants to post here often?

I just cannot imagine going to an Aussie or Canadian or French message board and dissing Aussies or Canadians or the French so nastily and via stereotype. Or asserting or implying that I am superior to them, or that Americans are superior to them.

Yet, I see posts like that here.

:shrug:

[Name removed]

168. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Freddie Stubbs]

93. So, you believe this guy who drugged and raped a child should go free?

:shrug:

[Fastcars]

103. Maybe he does...

There are many places that cater to "tourist" for this very reason.

Please name places that drugging and ass-raping a 13yr old forgiven after a period of time if you are able to get away between conviction and starting your sentence. I damn sure don't ever want to end up in such a place, I will stick with my third world U.S. Thank you very much.

[depakid]

115. Nicely done!

A more splendidly blind and one tracked example of what I was discussing would be difficult to find.

[WildEyedLiberal]

172. Yes, and if you disagree, you're a sick evil American blinded by bloodlust

Funny, because I hated Bush precisely BECAUSE of his contempt for the rule of law. And yet depakid suggests we disregard the illegality of child rape because... well, I'm not sure why. He's not making any cogent arguments; just more frothing anti-American generalizations.

[ProudDad]

175. He never said any such thing

He pointed out correctly that USAmerikans like some who've posted on this tread are bloodthirsty hypocrites who are their own (and civilization's) own worst enemies...

[WildEyedLiberal]

182. This thread is about extraditing a convicted child rapist to serve his sentence

If depakid wants to froth at the mouth about "USAmerikans" - whoever they are - maybe he can stop hijacking a completely unrelated thread? Unless, of course, you think that the fact that child rapists are put in jail is a uniquely AMERIKAN barbarity. In which case, I guess you can move to Thailand or Cambodia or one of those countries where you can rape 12 year olds in brothels and get away with it.

[paulsby]

196. waaaaah! americans are bad

because they actually think a person who provided drugs and alcohol to , and then raped, a 13 yr old, should actually have to spend time in prison, and not get off scot free, because they had the celebrity and money to run off to france!

[justiceischeap]

198. I find when someone spends this much time defending a child rapist

That maybe that person has something in common with said rapist. Whatever your feelings about the American justice system and its failures or successes, the point of the matter is this: You've been asked repeatedly what your stance on child rape is and have yet to answer that question. You've sidestepped that question over and over and it makes me wonder why. Why you won't answer that simple question. Instead you go off on tangents of torture and persecution and it makes me wonder if this case hits a little close to home for you. To contend that Polanski has paid for his crimes is asinine. His payment is not being able to travel freely throughout the world without fear of being arrested? That's his punishment? It's documented that he's had other relationships with young girls. This would point towards a pattern of abuse from this man. Whose to say he hasn't raped other young girls that we don't know about.

So, if we American's seem like we must be "satiated" because we want a child rapist to pay for his crimes (even if that crime is now only fleeing from the United States) guess what? That's our right because that's why laws are in place. Not so some Hollywood director can use his money and connections to flee from his sentence. If you're going to rape a child, you should pay for that in a place that doesn't serve fine wine and allow you to ply your trade day in and day out. If he'd stayed in the US 30 years ago, this would have been all behind him but no, like the child-raping coward he is, he ran.

[BreweryYardRat]

210. I don't much like having to defend depakid...

...but in this instance, I guess I have to.

Occam's Razor: Look for the simplest possible explanation to any problem, because it's usually the answer.

Simplest possible explanation: Depakid is too lazy, stubborn, or blindly zealous to actually respond to people's questions/arguments. He'd rather just keep yapping about how much the American justice system sucks.

Implying that he's a child rapist just because he's too much of a schmuck to actually bother responding to people...well, that's a really nasty way to argue. We may agree that depakid is a damn fool, but I can't support your behavior here.

[Howardx]

274. its nice that Du allows foreigners to post here

i especially enjoy the ones with a chip on their shoulder about "america" dig down a bit and you'll find its most often jealousy.

[Lorien]

315. Child rape is a crime that deserves punishment

are you saying otherwise?

[PM Martin]

80. It's about time.

:party:

[junior college]

84. Drugging a child with Quaaludes and alcohol

and then raping and sodomizing them is not cool but Polanski made some great films. Let's cut him some slack. Also, this happened a long time ago so who cares?

[No Elephants]

297. For his great films, he got tons of money, lots of acclaim and a lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Why should his films be a defense to statutory rape and skipping bail, too? Isn't there supposed to be one standard of justice for everyone?

A lo of the pedophile priest cases happened a very long time ago, too. I don't recall anyone saying they should not be prosecuted.

Or, maybe you were just being sarcastic? Hard to tell some times without seeing or hearing you.

[Odin2005]

101. Toss this monster in the clink and destroy the key.

[wuushew]

107. Have you considered the opportunity costs of such zeal?

Is not the law best exampled when serving a practical as well as idealogical goals?

In a constrained system what is the basis for pursuing criminals: FIFO, greatest harm, easiest conviction? We make make tradeoffs such as these all the time. Why was Martha Stewart thrown in jail and not another rich white guy?

[Odin2005]

110. This guy raped a 13yo and a 15yo. He's a monster that needs to be kept away from society.

I don't care how great of a movie maker he his, I don't care how "reformed" he claims to be. That kind of sick behavior can't be fixed.

[wuushew]

112. But venting understandible emotions makes for boring discussion

perhaps you find it theraputic. I want to argue counterpoint. Pick apart the situation and use the other parts of the brain that deal with contradiction vs. reality.

In cases of horrific crimes I find it more interesting to talk about the subjects brain chemistry or correlation to societal factors. Otherwise you just get an echo chamber of "fry the bastard". Grey is interesting and should be discussed.

[Name removed]

117. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[proteus_lives]

122. I hope you're being sarcastic.

There can be no "passes" on child rape.

[Odin2005]

128. There is no excuse for rape, EVER.

[depakid]

126. Good luck with that

As I mentioned above- any deal like this- or in America- remotely related to anything like this short circuits the reasoning process and essentially turns many into single (and simple) minded automatons.

Part & partial to the dumbing down of America, at least from my longitudinal and cross cultural observations.

[junior college]

130. But what about British people?

[depakid]

139. As a colleague has said on numerous occasions

There's a good reason why the government won't put public hanging up for a referendum.

Appealing to base emotion and the lowest common denominator's not had ideal results throughout British history- though viewed through the long lens- "mercy" through transportation did create what's currently the strongest economy among all of the western industrialized nations...

Not that a lot of poms like hearing (and knowing) that- though one supposes they're pleased enough to have http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashes">The Ashes back....;-)

[No Elephants]

298. As you rant about the dumbing down of America, you speak of

"part and partial," but the expression is "part and parcel."

Commenting on someone's grammar, spelling, usage, etc. on a board is tacky, IMO, but sometimes the irony is so yummy that resisting is futile.

[ProudDad]

178. The word "rape" actually has a dictionary meaning

you should look it up...

[No Elephants]

299. He pled guilty to unlawful sex. No need to look up anything.

"Rape is the commission of unlawful sexual intercourse or unlawful sexual intrusion. Rape laws in the United States have been revised over the years, and they vary from state to state."

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Rape

However, when speaking of the crime of rape, the only definition that matters in the definition the applicable criminal code gave at the time the crime was committed.

He is the only one who claimed she consented. That is a standard defense to a charge of rape, so it is no surprise that he claimed that she consented. That was not her story.

Besides when we are talking of sex with a child who is under the legal age, the law says any consent given by the child is ineffective.

And then, there was the matter of champagne and ludes.

[ProudDad]

177. Thanks goodness, it's not up to you

He'll probably walk -- in fact never be extradited...

Old news...old injustice done to him as well...

stupid...irrelevant...

[Arrowhead2k1]

134. "He's a holocaust survivor, so therefore he doesn't deserve to be punished for anything anymore."

I actually heard this ridiculous argument on my local news channel just now. I'm sorry, but his experiences in WWII have nothing to do with this, why even bring it up?

[Nye Bevan]

154. You don't know that rule?

Holocaust survivors have a life-long immunity against all criminal charges.

So do all famous movie directors.

And then there is the rule that you have fled abroad for more than a certain number of years, you also get a free pass, even if you anally raped a little girl.

So there are several reasons why Polanski should escape prison. At least that's what I keep reading on DU.

[bookworm65t]

152. will he have to register as a sex offender?

seems like he might wish he had returned to the U.S. much sooner.

[ProudDad]

180. That absurd waste of society's time and money

is, thankfully for the rest of the world, an aberration indulged in by USAmerikan hypocrites only...

[chatnoir]

155. Politically motivated?

Wonder what's behind this now considering he owns a house in Gstaad, Switzerland.

If he indeed was this wanted man, why did Swiss authorities allow him to buy/own property there which he regularly visited?

[gusandra]

158. ANTI-SEMITISM!

This is obviously a blatant act of anti-semitism on the part of the Swiss government. Or is it just the bureauctratic stupidity and intolerance of the Christian West?

Polanski fled because he realized the judge was wired to the prosecution. Even the victim has requested that the case be closed.

Working in a juvenile detention facility for many years, I have witnessed cases where sexually abused girls have felt more abused by the juvenile court than by the original perpetrator: "Samantha Geimer filed to have the charges against Polanski dismissed from court, saying that decades of publicity as well as the prosecutor's focus on lurid details continues to traumatize her and her family.<41>"

Here is a longer excerpt from Wiki:

In a 2003 interview,<35> Samantha Geimer said, "Straight up, what he did to me was wrong. But I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us." Furthermore, "I'm sure if he could go back, he wouldn't do it again. He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it".
In 2008, Geimer stated in an interview that she wishes Polanski would be forgiven, "I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society. I don't think he needs to be locked up forever and no one has ever come out ever - besides me - and accused him of anything. It was 30 years ago now. It's an unpleasant memory ... (but) I can live with it."<36>
In 2008, a documentary film of the aftermath of the incident, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Following review of the film, Polanski's attorney, Douglas Dalton, contacted the Los Angeles district attorney's office about prosecutor David Wells' role in coaching judge Rittenband. Based on statements by Wells included in the film, Polanski and Dalton are seeking review of whether the prosecutor acted illegally and engaged in malfeasance in interfering with the operation of the trial.<37>
In December 2008, Polanski's lawyer in the United States filed a request to Judge David S. Wesley to have the case dismissed on the grounds of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct. The filing says that Judge Rittenband (now deceased) violated the plea bargain by keeping in communication about the case with a deputy district attorney who was not involved. These activities were depicted in Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.<38>
In January 2009, Polanski's lawyer filed a further request to have the case dismissed, and to have the case moved out of Los Angeles, as the Los Angeles courts require him to appear before the court for any sentencing or dismissal, and Polanski will not appear. In February 2009, Polanski's request was tentatively denied by Judge Peter Espinoza, who said that he would make a ruling if Polanski appeared in court.<39><40>
That same month, Samantha Geimer filed to have the charges against Polanski dismissed from court, saying that decades of publicity as well as the prosecutor's focus on lurid details continues to traumatize her and her family.<41>

[Howardx]

273. bullshit

all bullshit. go away rape supporter.

[Kablooie]

164. But I liked his movie The Fearless Vampire Killers, didn't you?

[ProudDad]

184. It was kinda cute... (n/t)

[NashVegas]

206. Knife In the Water Was Brilliant

Polanksi's people started working to get the charges dropped over a year ago. Hollywood wants him back, they think he can make them money.

The LA court system said, 'come see us and we'll talk about it.'

To me, the idea that a 78/79 YO Polanksi STILL can't put his fucking pants on and face the LA court, where the victim claims she wants it to be over with, just shows how emotionally immature he still, really is.

[JeanGrey]

199. If he didn't see it coming he's a fool. Either that or he figures

that everyone will look the other way, after all, it's been 30 years, what more do we want, right?

[xc8mip]

201. rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy

lifetime predator pedophile Polanski .....Beside that 13 year old girl there were many others ....How come such bastard was protected for so long? Who else is affiliated with his "network"?

[slackmaster]

204. Gulag!

[SpartanDem]

211. Free Roman Polanski now, demand France and Poland

Source: The Guardian

A diplomatic war was brewing today over the arrest of the filmmaker Roman Polanski, who was detained in Switzerland on a decades-old warrant relating to the rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

France and Poland urged Switzerland to free the 76-year-old director on bail and said they would be lobbying the US government all the way up to the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.

Frédéric Mitterrand, the French culture minister, said the arrest was proof of the "frightening" side of America.

"In the same way as there is a generous America which we love, there is also a certain kind of America which is frightening, and it is this America which has now shown us its face," he said.

Reports this afternoon said the director had refused to voluntarily go to the US to face charges, raising the prospect of a long and drawn-out legal saga.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/sep/28/roman-polanski-arrest-switzerland

---

Nice to where they come down on the issue of stautory rape

[MUAD_DIB]

212. I never knew the child was 13.

[Ian David]

213. Maybe we're doing this to provoke other countries into arresting Yoo, Bush, Cheney, etc.

If we get Europe mad over us arresting Polansi, maybe they'll do for us what we've lacked the courage to do ourselves.

[Raven]

214. I wonder if the prosecutors in California checked in with the State Dept

before they issued that warrant. I think this guy should be accountable for his crime but I wonder if this could have been handled differently.

[mackdaddy]

215. I used to be ambivolent ablout this..

But when I read the excerpt of the girls testimony it is clear that Polansky plied a 13 year old girl with alcohol and drugs and anally raped her against her will.

I no longer have any sympathy for the SOB. He ran out on a deal in which his slap on the wrist punishment would have been over decades ago. Lock him in the box he deserves to be in.

[depakid]

219. You might want to read her current statement on the matter

...the enduring legal questions surrounding Polanski's flight from justice have ensured that Geimer is regularly dragged reluctantly back into the public eye despite her appeals for the case to be dropped.

"I got over it a long time ago," she has said.

"I wasn't prepared to carry a lot of bad feelings with me and further damage my life and continue the trauma of it."

In January, Geimer filed a legal declaration in Los Angeles formally requesting that the outstanding charges against Polanski be withdrawn.

She said Los Angeles prosecutors' insistence that Polanski must return to the United States before dismissal of the case could be considered as a "cruel joke being played on me".

She also voiced anger that authorities had detailed her grand jury testimony in related hearings to the case.

"True as they may be, the continued publication of those details causes harm to me, my beloved husband, my three children and my mother," she said, adding that it was time for closure.

More: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/people/polanski-victim-motherofthree-trying-to-forget-past-20090928-g7x2.html

[noiretextatique]

223. doesn't change the facts of the case

he got her drunk and raped her when she was 13 years old...that makes him a rapist.

[depakid]

228. What it says- and what people overseas look at is just how vindictive and obsessed Americans are

with their pounds of flesh- even when it serves NO purpose other than to satisfy their lust for vengeance. Part & parcel to how you got manipulated into war with Iraq- and how easily you became a nation of torturers.

[noiretextatique]

he raped a 13 yo then fled the country to avoid sentencing

i don't know why anyone would have a problem with his extradition.

[EFerrari]

238. Maybe because the victim has said that she is being retraumatized

and now so is her family. Polanski settled this with her years ago and the new action feels to this cynical observer, anyway, more like angling for a payoff than anything remotely connected to seeking justice.

[noiretextatique]

245. i am not sure why he should avoid prison time

for rape, even if it bothers the victim. can you cite another case where that happened?

[EFerrari]

250. I don't think he'll serve a minute. Someone has their hand out.

Our criminal justice system never just wakes up feeling virtuous one morning that I can tell.

[noiretextatique]

230. on that we agree eom

[depakid]

240. The rest of the world- outside of the Islamic nations isn't like Texas

and doesn't have the same thirst for retribution -even at expense of those personally affected by the case. Indeed- most consider the US system barbaric both in its enormity and severity.

Here we've got an instance where putting this guy who's not a recidivist in prison for life serves no deterrent value- and benefits no one particularly not the victim.

The only purpose in this is to satiate certain people's pathological need for even more punishment in a 31 year old case (which, if you read the criminal justice threads even on this ostensibly progressive board) is quite frightening.

[WriteDown]

242. So the rest of the world views child rape as just an

innocent indiscretion? It would probably be correct to say that most of the world does not value daughters/women.

[depakid]

247. No- they look at the case as it is- and don't share your simple minded quest

for outrage and retribution.

That's one reason why their societies are far healthier than America's.

[WriteDown]

252. Doesn't sound healthier...

Simply misogynistic.

[noiretextatique]

248. i have a problem with a convicted rapist getting special treatment

because he had the money to flee to another country.

[Brickbat]

235. You call it pound of flesh; I call it justice. The man drugged and raped a child. Letting him go

because he's rich, talented, old, former lover of a murdered woman, child of Holocaust survivors, whatever, sends a terrible message about our nation's priorities and one I will not support.

[depakid]

241. Like many- you appear to confuse justice with vengeance

Chalk that one up to the nature of your media.

[noiretextatique]

251. no...i just don't think he should be treated any differently than any other convicted rapist

:shrug: it's puzzling to me that people seem to think he should.

[oldcoot]

328. I agree with you

Not prosecuting him after he fled to avoid serving his sentence is not justice. Indeed, not extraditing this rapist will certainly send the message that there is no need to respect the law as long as one has enough money and important friends.

[No Elephants]

300. 300 million people in this country. I'm guessing fewer than 50 tortured. Not that I excuse it.

But you are lying, though your self-righteousness has probably convinced you otherwise.

[WriteDown]

224. So?

If a one brother kills another and the family doesn't want their remaining son prosecuted, should he go free? Have him serve his time and then he can go wherever he likes. She won't need to testify again since he's already been convicted.

[Brickbat]

233. The justice system doesn't serve victims; it serves justice.

Which is, of course, as it should be.

[Dutch]

216. Yeah, trying to prosecute child rapists is soooo "frightening"...

:eyes:

[hedgehog]

217. In 1977 the Viet Nam War was still very fresh in people's minds and.

Nixon had just been pardoned. I'm wondering how much of the support for Polanski back then was in reaction to disapproval of the US role in Viet Nam and a judgment that the US Justice system was flawed. The continued support may be force of habit.

[WriteDown]

218. Frightening?

Seriously? :eyes:

[proteus_lives]

220. Fuck Polanski's international friends.

It's "frightening" to go after a child rapist? :puke:

I hope Clinton and Obama shut them down.

[imdjh]

221. France is afraid to take a moral stand, because the Algerians would revolt....

.... while the rest of the world would merely faint.

[Flagg]

281. I have really tried to make sense of your post but it still makes no sense

whatsoever.

What you're trying to say is that the French didn't go after Polanski for fear that it would upset the Algerians (by that I assume you mean French citizens from North African origin) ?

[Lasher]

222. Looks like Roman is going to fight extradition, no surprise there.

This means Switzerland is probably not going to let him out on bail.

[joeybee12]

225. Apparently the plea deal was completed and he served time in

prison, then the judge wanted to re-sentence, so he fled...sort of changes it in that he finished his sentence and the judge wanted to reneg on the dael...don't even know if he could do that.

[WriteDown]

226. Not at all....

"Following the plea agreement, according to the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, the court ordered Polanski to report to a state prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation, but granted a stay of ninety days to allow him to complete his current project. Under the terms set by the court, he was permitted to travel abroad. Polanski returned to California and reported to Chino State Prison for the evaluation period, and was released after 42 days. On February 1, 1978, Polanski fled to London, where he maintained residency. A day later he traveled on to France, where he held citizenship, avoiding the risk of extradition to the U.S. by Britain. Consistent with its extradition treaty with the United States, France can refuse to extradite its own citizens. An extradition request later filed by U.S. officials was denied. The United States government can request that Polanski be prosecuted on the California charges by the French authorities.<40>"

[Howardx]

234. wrong

"1977: Released after a 42-day psychiatric evaluation, Polanski enters a guilty plea in exchange for "time served" as a sentence. A judge rejects the prosecution agreement and issues a 50-year prison sentence, and Polanski flees to France."

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-polanski-timeline,0,5192601.story

the prosecution agreement with polanski is merely a suggestion to the judge, he is not bound by it.

[SpartanDem]

239. As been has pointed this isn't true

also judges aren obligated to accept plea deals

[JonQ]

227. Um, no.

What is frightening about punishing rapists?

Is child rape a respected part of french culture?

Seriously, why are they getting involved.

[Thickasabrick]

229. Because he is a citizen of France nt

[WriteDown]

232. I do not remember the US issuing statements that France

was "frightening" when it took Roman in.

[maxsolomon]

231. he needs to work out a deal

by which he wouldn't fight extradition and would go back to face the music. he's 76, jailing him for years isn't in the interests of the bankrupt state of california: it's not going to "teach him a lesson" or rehabilitate him, he's proven he's not much of a risk for re-offending (that we know of). a limited amount of jail time minus time served, and probation. maybe 6 months. everyone can move on.

on edit: yes, i know. he raped a 13 year old. so he should be jailed till he's dead, then re-animated and forced to serve a second life term.

[depakid]

244. "jailed till he's dead, then re-animated and forced to serve a second life term."

From my observations, all too many Americans would have no problem AT ALL with that. In this case- or in countless others.

[Howardx]

249. its important for molesters of any socioeconomic strata to know

that we will pursue them to the ends of the earth regardless of how much money they have or how much juice they have with foreign governments.

[bluestateguy]

236. I guess the Free Mumia crowd has a new cause

Not on my radar screen.

[closeupready]

280. Snarf.

:D

[Autumn]

237. He had sex with a 13 year old

child. He is a pedophile ,that is the "kind of America which is frightening", not one seeking justice delayed.

[Thickasabrick]

246. Polanski has always insisted he did not know she was underage,

(at the time the age of consent was 14 and she was two weeks away from 14). Also at that time, she was actively having sex with her 17 year old boyfriend.....would that make the boyfriend a pedophile? Why wasn't the boyfriend charged with rape at the time since having sex with a 13 year old can never be consensual, therefore it must always be rape.

[depakid]

253. Actually, the age of consent was 16 at the time

Not that it matters all that much to the burn 'em at the stake crowd.

[Thickasabrick]

254. Thank you - I kept reading 14 in so many of the articles. nt

[No Elephants]

301. Just the opposite. Those who want him jailed find it very meaningful that the

age of consent was 16 and she was only 13. Also meaningful that he gave her booze and pills. Also meaningful that, according to her, there was no consent. Any one of those three facts, if true, would have made it rape, but only her age makes it rape of a minor, which is, if possible, more heinous than rape of an adult.

Is it to the "forgive and forget" crowd that the legal age's being 16 does not much matter. For one of them, who posted upthread, her being only a few weeks away from 14 was an excuse.

It's one thing to argue that it should not be prosecuted at this point for the sake of the victim or for whatever reason. But, to excuse the original event? Sorry, no.

[Tarc]

255. Since he had to get permission from the girl's mother to do a photo shoot

I'd say the "I thought she was of age!" bit is a bit weak.

[Thickasabrick]

269. I think when you sign a contract, you have to be over 18. I don't

think the age limits for sex are the same.

[WriteDown]

256. Did Polanski know what the word "No" meant...

at the time?

[Thickasabrick]

268. According to Polanski, she did not say no and that it was consensual. nt

[closeupready]

282. Why did he plead guilty? He either lied then or is lying when he says it was consensual.

n/t

[No Elephants]

304. He pled guilty to unlawful sex. If he had sex with her while she was underage,

the sex was unlawful, whether she consented or not, because the law says she is too young to give consent that the law will recognize. Also, he had given her champagne and pills, which might have made her consent ineffective, even if she had been an adult.

In other words, she may have given consent, but the sex was still unlawful on one ground or two. So, he could have been telling the truth about both the consent and the guilty plea. Besides, it certainly is not unknown for people to plead guilty to something just to avoid the publicity of a trial, or to avoid the risk of getting nailed for something even worse. Jury, 13 year old girl. Six felony charges. If you do the math, you might plead guilty, too, even if you never met her.

[LisaL]

309. He plead guilty so why exactly shouldn't he be extradited to US

and sentenced for it?
Since when is it all well and good to just leave the country instead of being sentenced?

[No Elephants]

303. Consent is one of very few defenses to the charge of rape. Therefore, it is not

surprising that he claimed consent. The girl says otherwise. No reason to believe one over the other. However, it's irrelevant.

The law recognizes two circumstances in which consent to sex is not legally effective: one is when the party alleged to have given consent is a minor. The law at the time defined minor as 16. She was under 14 at the time. The other circumstance is when the person alleged to have given consent is operating under diminished capacity, such as being drugged or drunk. He had given her champgne and ludes.

So, even if he is telling the truth about consent, it is still statutory rape, a feloney. To which he pled guilty, in exhange for the prosecution's dropping the other five felonies with which he was charged.

I cannot find anything that indicates that the judge ever accepted the plea agreement, though. In any event, my guess is tha jumping bail before sentencing knocks out the plea agreement.

[No Elephants]

257. Where was the legal age 14 at the time? The issue is not being a pedophile or not.

It is whether you had sex with someone who legally could and actually did consent to having sex with you.

If is not about diagnosing the older actor but about protecting the younger one, even against the younger one's own indivdial wishes. It is simply a decision that a society makes. If a girl under 14 cannot give legally effective consent, don't have sex with her. If you are not sure of her age, don't have sex with her.

No exceptions. Otherwise, where do you draw the line? If two weeks away from 14 is okay, no matter what the law says, why not two months? Why not six months? Why not a year? Are kids really that much wiser at 14 than at 13? Legislatures draw lines. It's what they do.

And, yes, the 17 year old can, in many states, also be prosecuted for statutory rape, even if the legal age is 16. That does not, however, mean that you must prosecute both the 17 year old and the 40 year old. The prosecutor decides. He can prosecute either or both or neither. It's called prosecutorial discretion.

BTW, you did not mention that he also gave the girl liquor and drugs.

[chatnoir]

270. I always wondered why the alert was not raised

when the housekeeper (?) knocked on the door of the room they were in and Polanski got up in the middle of all this, opened the door a bit and spoke to the woman.

[Autumn]

272. I'm sorry but 2 weeks from 14 years old

to me is not acceptable, and having read a little more on it, giving a 2 weeks from 14 year old child booze and having anal sex with her still makes him a pedophile in my eyes.

[Thickasabrick]

243. I'm pretty sure this will end up like the Russian case in 2005. In that

case Adamov was arrested in Switzerland on a US fraud charge, then Russia said they wanted him because he was a Russian citizen and he ended up going back to Russia to stand trial for the fraud charge.

We have always had the authority to ask the French to try him there but the US has never requested that.

[No Elephants]

305. Are you sure we never requested it of France? I thought we had and France refused bc

our treaty with France does not require France to extradite a French citizen and he was a French citizen when we made the request.

[muriel_volestrangler]

314. French drop Polanski release call

The French government has dropped its public support for Roman Polanski, saying the 76-year-old director "is neither above nor beneath the law".

The move follows a backlash against a campaign for Polanski's release, with several leading European politicians and cultural figures refusing to join.
...
On Monday, the French foreign minister called for Polanski to be freed.
...
Speaking to reporters, French government spokesman Luc Chatel said: "We have a judicial procedure under way, for a serious affair, the rape of a minor, on which the American and Swiss legal systems are doing their job."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8283707.stm

[No Elephants]

307. Having read the thread carefully, I have learned a lot. My conclusion is

that we may have a legal right to prosecute Polanski, but should defer to the woman's desire to not have this raked up again. We don't have to defer, true. However, this is victimizing her and her kid(s). When you weigh that against the theoretical gain of trying a 76 year old.... Hell, the sentence he skipped out on was only going to be 48 days to begin with. 48 days skipped versus subjecting her and her family to the media circus?

I vote with the victim. It's too late to spare her entirely, but we could and should make every effort to get it over with as quickly as possible. Make a fast finding on the existing record of judicial miscondcut and ship him back to France or Switzerland.

That's my view.

[greennina]

308. But instead the Repukians...

will continue to punish here by persecuting this guy. They hate women, and their opinions in this matter prove it once again.

[GMA]

316. How...

does wanting this man to be punished make Republicans women-haters?

[gorbal]

311. Glad to see he has few defenders on here.

I hope he is extradited, it would be great to be justice done. I feel bad for the victim because her name is out there and she could be subject to retribution.

It is for her own sake, not his that she wants it over with. Im sad for her, but it makes me wonder what else he has gotten away with.

[Imagevision]

312. Roman; "yes it was consensual" she took the Quaalude and we took some photo's you know

she was 13, I was 36 and it was Hollywood in disco time...

[gusandra]

313. Scratch a group of progressives, and what do you find?

A lynch mob.

[PavePusher]

317. At a current Huff'n'Puff article...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-z-shore/polanskis-arrest-shame-on_b_301134.html?page=4&show_comment_id=31853207#comment_31853207

And my comment:

"Ms. Shore, I have a proposal for you.

I will do to you what that animal did to a 13 year-old girl, and if you can say, with a straight face, that you were not raped, I'll call for him to go free.

Better yet, do you have a young daughter or grand-daughter I can take out to dinner?

HE. RAPED. A. 13. YEAR. OLD. GIRL.

And you seem to be O.K. with that.

I think that says everything about your character that we need to know.

Goodbye."




Lynch mob? No. We just want to see him finish his sentance, then do the time for absconding.

Even if he should be castrated with a blow torch, then shot in the face.