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.
Showing 4 Comments
~ PLEASE NOTE ~
If, in any way, your comment is an attack on the author of this post or a previous commenter, your comment will be deleted without question.
Add a New CommentNOTE: The Facebook login option has been disabled. We apologize for any inconvenience. |
Click to Read Our Commenting Rules & Guidelines
Manson follower Susan Atkins who had killed Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate died a couple of days ago and now this announced arrest of Roman Polanski.
What I can't understand is, how did Polanski manage to evade the law all these years with the so called technology of cameras and GPS, etc. There is just NO way that one can hide from the law with all of technology that is out there.
Something is just screwy here. I think the authorities DID know where he was hiding all these years. And one has to question as to why did they decide to arrest him NOW and not arrest him from years ago? Not to mention that this is going to cost taxpayers money for a trial that will drag on for years.
This is another example of how there is no such thing as "justice" in the justice system in the USA. Criminals go free while the innocent and victims get sent to prison.
@cb on bonanzle:
Roman wasn't hiding per se. He was living in countries who don't have extradition agreements with the US. Switzerland doesn't normally have extradition agreements but in Polanski's case, they did.
The woman who was the victim of Polanski's crime has written numerous letters to the LA DA's office wanting them to drop the charges. She's forgiven him but in the eyes of the law he's still guilty.
I am probably taking the least popular opinion, but I have a hard time getting over a few facts: The girl was only 13 years old – he was charged with six counts, including rape with drugs and sodomy (the girl was anally raped). He plead guilty to statutory rape so the other charges would get dropped. This wasn't just a chance encounter where mistakes were made. (There was absolutely nothing consensual)
I understand the victim's desire to make all of it go away after all these years . He was found guilty and the rule of law must be applied for justice to be served.
The "woman" hasn't exactly forgiven him: she settled out of court for money. So she probably had to say that to get money, which is the only justice she ever got here. PEOPLE: HE RAPED A 13 YEAR OLD GIRL AND PLED GUILTY. If they wanted to drop him out of the plane on the ride back without a chute, I'd say, "That's for that girl. And 'The Ninth Gate.'"