Swiss arrest Roman Polanski on US request in sex case - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Fitz · #1 09-27-2009, 10:14 AM

A degenerate and a great filmmaker. I can't believe the Swiss are taking part in this...

Quote:

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.

The Swiss statement said Polanski was officially in "provisional detention for extradition," but added that he would not be transferred to U.S. authorities until all proceedings are completed. Polanski can contest his detention and any extradition decision in the Swiss courts, it said.

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.

In France, Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said he was "dumbfounded" by Polanski's arrest, adding that he "strongly regrets that a new ordeal is being inflicted on someone who has already experienced so many of them."

Mitterrand's ministry said Sunday in a statement that he is in contact with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, "who is following the case with great attention and shares the minister's hope that the situation can be quickly resolved."

A native of France who was taken to Poland by his parents, Polanski escaped Krakow's Jewish ghetto as a child and lived off the charity of strangers. His mother died at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

He worked his way into filmmaking in Poland, gaining an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film in 1964 for his "Knife in the Water." Offered entry to Hollywood, he directed the classic "Rosemary's Baby" in 1968.
But his life was shattered again in 1969 when his wife, actress Sharon Tate, and four other people were gruesomely murdered by followers of Charles Manson. She was eight months pregnant.

He went on to make another American classic, "Chinatown," released in 1974.

In 1977, he was accused of raping the teenager while photographing her during a modeling session. The girl said Polanski plied her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill at Jack Nicholson's house while the actor was away. She said that, despite her protests, he performed oral sex, intercourse and sodomy on her.

Polanski was allowed to plead guilty to one of six charges, unlawful sexual intercourse, and was sent to prison for 42 days of evaluation.

Lawyers agreed that would be his full sentence, but the judge tried to renege on the plea bargain. Aware the judge would sentence him to more prison time and require his voluntary deportation, Polanski fled to France.

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.

Festival organizers said Polanski's detention had caused "shock and dismay," but that they would go ahead with Sunday's planned retrospective of the director's work.
The Swiss Directors Association sharply criticized authorities for what it deemed "not only a grotesque farce of justice, but also an immense cultural scandal."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090927/ap_on_en_mo/eu_switzerland_polanski;_ylt=Aq6YlEwiSEZxcHhVRnE6H5BvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTJvNG1iYTdyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwO TI3L2V1X3N3aXR6ZXJsYW5kX3BvbGFuc2tpBGNwb3MDMwRwb3MDOQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNzd2lzc2FycmVzdHA

Jorn · #2 09-27-2009, 01:00 PM

I can't believe they keep on pushing this case, curious how this is going to play out. Just watched some of his earlier work: "Knife in the Water" and "Repulsion", two great films.

cmac2012 · #3 09-27-2009, 01:16 PM

Oh well, drugging children for ease of sexual access is no small thing.

If he'd just done the time back when, he'd of been free of the anxiety and travel restrictions all this time and might have gotten material for more movies.

Jorn · #4 09-27-2009, 01:27 PM

I thought it was consensual, I guess I was mistaken.

Pavka007 · #5 09-27-2009, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jorn

I thought it was consensual, I guess I was mistaken.

??? She was 13 , he was 43.....I think you are mistaken

MTI · #6 09-27-2009, 02:30 PM

Statutory rape is one of those crimes where "specific intent" is not part of the required elements of proof by the prosecution. "Mistake" is also not recognized as a defense.

daveuz · #7 09-27-2009, 02:36 PM

The irony here is that this happens weeks after the Lockerbie bomber is released.

t walgamuth · #8 09-27-2009, 10:05 PM

I have not watched a polanski film since he fled the country...scumbag!

I'm glad the swiss are pushing it. Think what the girls folks thought and have thought all these years?...not to mention the girl?

Same goes for Woody Allen....sicko.

DieselAddict · #9 09-27-2009, 11:44 PM

The "girl" in question (now in her 40's) wants the case dismissed as well.

As to his films, I haven't seen many but I really liked the Pianist. One of the best films ever IMO.

cmac2012 · #10 09-27-2009, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jorn

I thought it was consensual, I guess I was mistaken.

She said she was protesting - not sure how drugged out she was, as far as ability to resist. Of course it's illegal either way, just worse when it's not consensual IMO.

Billybob · #11 09-28-2009, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jorn

I thought it was consensual, I guess I was mistaken.

36 pages of her contemporaneous grand jury testimony

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskia1.html

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskib1.html

Polanski admitted and did not deny any of the allegations.

It should be noted that he was a serial offender having already engaged in similar behavoir with Nastassja Kinski when she was 15.

Gurkha · #12 09-28-2009, 01:15 AM

Man has Lolita syndrome and a precedence needs to be set. At least the other scum Allen waited till his step daughter came of legal age. Then he took nudies and married her. Just peachy.

Jim B. · #13 09-28-2009, 05:50 AM

Actually he *HAS* to be brought in. There is no choice.

His Failure to Appear for sentence, resulted in a Bench Warrant.

Those NEVER go away, until they are served, or until the Court recalls them (which this one never did). And it would take a massive excuse for that; his protests NOW, that the Judge at the time, now deceased "renenged on his plea deal" and it's a fatally faulty reason to attack the warrant..

That kind of thing *might* work on the charges, but is utterly irrelevant as regards the FTA.

.....Any FTA is a TOTALLY different matter, and is a totally separate offense, against the Court from the actual charges. The back of any traffic ticket will explain it in a basic form.

Even if the arresting officer begs and pleads with his Sargeant, and the sergeant moans and groans to the Lieutenant, and the Lieutenant cries and screams to the Captain, and the Captain tearfully cries to the Watch Commander, and the Watch Commander pleads with the Chief.

Still the same result.

They will take you in on the warrant, if it was outstanding, for no matter HOW long, or if they ran you for warrants and you came up dirty.

Just how it works.

The Judge who handles this bench warrant return will probably say first, hmmm, he has been on the run for 21 years.

If he was out on bail, the bond was LONG ago forfeited, the bail company or whoever put up the money to guarantee his appearance got screwed and lost it, and the bond was "collected" and the funds got paid into the Court, who gets to keep the money.

I think his first appearance in court in the USA will be proceedings to deal with NEW bail to be set, and to set the whole miserable case for resentencing and further proceedings, and a further supplemental Pre-Sentence report to be prepared by The Adult Probation Dept. of the county for the Judge to look at, complete with sentence recommendations by the APO..

The DA will probably scream for REALLY high bail, because he is an EXTREME FLIGHT RISK (and may not have "ties to the community" very much after 21 years gone, though celebs may show up to say different...

Who knows what the defense lawyer will say....

I'd bet the Judge would nab his passport, though, right away. Right there in Court.

Unless the defense tries to set aside the plea based on his age and the vic's unwillingness to have him punished, there is a GOOD chance the Judge may say screw it, and sentence him to the original sentence Polanski agreed to.

And it will be a big one, too, because he has no credit for time served, good/time work time or custody credits.

Only hope is pity, or jail overcrowding to make it less.

It is very possible at his age, he could get a sentence long enough to ensure in dies in Prison.

We are not talking about some infraction or even a misdemeanor.

If it's a State California Superior Court matter, the Judge can use discretionary sentencing schemes to REALLY lower the boom on him, by choosing the HIGH term, and consecutively
sentencing him to all enhancements, and running all counts consec instead of concurrent.

To avoid the chance of an appeal, being overturned, the sentencing Judge He is, in CA. be required to "State reasons for sentence choice" on the record, (unless he chooses the "MID" term = aggraving and mitigating factors perfectly balance) and it would be easy to cast out all the usual mitigating factors that justify a low, and not a mid or hgih term = Remorse, early admission of guilt, --things like that....

Polanski IMO is screwed. How bad, we won't know for a while.

For any number of reasons, the LA Sheriff would need to house him in Ad Seg.

~~~~~

I predict the Judge will close these proceedings to the Public, or at BEST, only allow *ONE* single "POOL" video camera to be used in Court by ALL the media.

Security in that courtroom will be a nighmare, the deputies will have a LOT of work, to do, but probably some of them are gleefully awaiting the overtime pay they are going to get out of this, makes it easier to deal with headaches.

I think the court and admin costs for this guy's every appearance from now on will be STAGGERING

Guess who pays

t walgamuth · #14 09-28-2009, 06:17 AM

The victim should have no say in the matter. She is no judge of the situation. I hope they hammer him.

t walgamuth · #15 09-28-2009, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurkha

Man has Lolita syndrome and a precedence needs to be set. At least the other scum Allen waited till his step daughter came of legal age. Then he took nudies and married her. Just peachy.

What makes you think he waited?

He just waited til she was legal before marrying her.

scumbag.