Roman Polanski Arrested in Switzerland
Perhaps it's time to just get this over and done with
Despite his filmmaking prowess I am sure the one thing everyone knows about Roman Polanski is that in 1977 he was charged with unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. In 1978, after a severely confusing and seemingly bungled trial as documented in the fabulous 2008 documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (my review here), Polanski left the United States failing to appear at his sentencing on the statutory-rape conviction. He hasn't returned since.
Today, it was reported Polanski was taken into custody in Zurich this morning and faces extradition to Los Angeles. He was in Zurich to accept an award at the Zurich Film Festival.
In a statement received by the "Los Angeles Times" three Los Angeles attorneys representing Polanski indicated the arrest came as a surprise. The lawyers have been representing him in an ongoing attempt to have the case against Polanski dismissed on the grounds of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.
"We were unaware of any extradition being sought and separate counsel will be retained for those proceedings,” wrote attorneys Douglas Dalton, Chad Hummel and Bart Dalton. Their request to have the 1977 charges against Polanski dismissed is currently pending before the state Court of Appeal.
I'm going to stay out of the debate here because this one is too tricky to figure out for my simple mind. Many point to the fact Polanski's then victim, Samantha Geimer, has since forgiven the director and think that adds value. Others use the "judicial misconduct" and the time Polanski has already spent in jail after originally attempting to accept the punishment for what he'd done, only to leave the States after Judge Laurence J. Rittenbad seemed to have his own personal motivations in running Polanski through the ringer. Then, of course, there is the fact he is famous and there will be sides fighting for his cause, one way or another, based solely on that fact and blind sentimentality or hatred.
The only thing I would say, is Polanski had unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl that also included at least half a tablet of Quaalude as well as champagne. Has he served the appropriate amount of time based on the crime committed? I'm not sure and I'm not a lawyer so I wouldn't presume to level an opinion. Of course, after watching the previously mentioned documentary it does raise additional moral questions that turn this into one hell of a mess. It's certainly no longer a cut-and-dry case.
You can get the full story here.
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