Rosenbaum on the arrest of Polanski

[Tony]

Polanski has said that the judge was screwing him by not honouring the plea bargain which was time served (42 days), and only pleading guilty to one charge (unlawful sex with a minor) and all the other charges dropped. But a legal expert on CNN pointed out that plea bargains are agreed upon between the prosecutor and the defense and that the judge sitting on the case is not bound by pleas. In this case, the judge told the lawyers that he planned to give Polanski some prison time and Roman split.

[Alan Brody]

Yes, the strange thing, according to the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, is that the judge seems to have been acting almost like a film director, instructing both attorneys on what to say in court to fool the media, after informing them of what his plans were beforehand. Then the judge suddenly showed signs of bowing to public pressure to impose a stiffer sentence. Polanski, who had already grown terrified of the other prisoners while being evaluated at Chino State Prison (I wonder if he'd seen the film Short Eyes?), began to panic at how surreal and unpredictable the whole charade was becoming and decided to flee. As the link provided by Keats shows, it's a case that keeps getting more bizarre every day.

BTW, here's an interesting exchange between Rosenbaum and Richard Roeper about Rosenbaum's blog comments:
http://blog.richardroeper.com/?p=1280#comments

'The policeman's job is to protect the free citizen, not to punish criminals. That's only an incidental part of his job.'   Orson Welles

[The Night Man]

BTW, here's an interesting exchange between Rosenbaum and Richard Roeper about Rosenbaum's blog comments...

It's really disappointing to see Rosenbaum (and others whose work I admire) making excuses for why Polanski shouldn't be called to account for his actions. All of the reasons put forward for now letting him off the hook are really beside the point.

If it were Brett Ratner or Michael Bay would they be so forgiving?

[Alan Brody]

I would hope not. Especially in Bay's case.

[ToddBaesen]

*****

A list of the signers to the SACD (Paris) petition to free Roman Polanski, which is notably dominated by Europeans, including Jeanne Moreau and many important film directors:

*****

Erika Abrams, Fatih Akin, Yves Alberty, Stephane Allagnon, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Gianni Amelio, Wes Anderson, Michel Andrieu, Roger Andrieux, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Tomas Arana, Frédéric Aranzueque-Arrieta, Alexandre Arcady, Fanny Ardant, Asia Argento, Marie-Hélène Arnau, Darren Aronofsky, Olivier Assayas, Alexander Astruc, Gabriel Auer, Zdzicho Augustyniak, Alexandre Babel, Vladimir Bagrianski, Lubomila Bakardi, Fausto Nicolás Balbi, Eleonor Baldwin, Jean-François Balmer, Alberto Barbera Museo nazionale de Torino, Luc Barnier, Christophe Barratier, Ernest Barteldes, Carmen Bartl, Pascal Batigne, Anne Baudry, Juan Antonio Bayona, Xavier Beauvois, Liria Begeja, Matthieu Béguelin, Gilles Behat, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Marco Bellochio, Yannick Bellon, Florence Bellone, Monica Bellucci, Véra Belmont, Jacqueline Belon, Jean-Marc Benguigui, Djamel Bennecib, Luc Béraud, Jacob Berger, Alain Berliner, Gael Garcia Bernal, Pascal Berney, Xavier Berry, Bernardo Bertolucci, Giuseppe Bertolucci, Jean-Marie Besset, Marlène Bisson, Arnstein Bjørkly, Lucien Blacher, Virginie Blanc-Brude Bard, Jean-Marc Bloch, Léa Bloch, Catherine Boissière, Anne-Sylvie Bonaud, Olivier Bonnet, Thierry Boscheron, Renata Bosco, Freddy Bossy, Patrick Bouchitey, Cédric Bouchoucha, Paul Boujenah, Frédéric Bourboulon, Katia Boutin, Ian Brady, Jacques Bral, Sophie Bramly, Paulo Branco, Patrick Braoudé, Guila Braoudé, Edwin Brienen, Adrien Brody, Isabelle Broué, Max Brun, Merima Bruncevic, Anne Burki, André Buytaers, Emilie Buzyn, Anthony Byrne, Marco Cacioppo, Gerald Calderon, Monica Cannizzaro, Peggy Carajopoulou-Vavali, John Carchietta, Christian Carion, Henning Carlsen, Jean-Michel Carré, Esteban Carvajal Alegria, Lionel Cassan, Bryan Cassiday, Miss Catadler, Mathieu Celary, Teco Celio, Muriel Cerf, Dabiel Chabannes, Thierry Chabert, Chagi, Jean-Yves Chalangeas, Daniel Champagnon, Christophe Champclaux, Georges Chappedelaine , Fabienne Chauveau, Claire Chazal, Patrice Chéreau, Brigitte Chesneau, Michel Chevalier, Mishka Cheyko, Catherine Chiono, Catherine Chouchan, Elie Chouraqui, Elie Chouraqui, Souleymane Cissé, Jean- Pierre Clech, Henri Codenie, Robert Cohen, Catherine Colassin, Suzanne Colonna, Jean-Paul Commin, Anne Consigny, Alain Cophignon, Alain Corneau, Jérôme Cornuau, Guy Courtecuisse, Miguel Courtois, Antoine Courtray, Guillaume Cousin, Morgan Crestel, Rudyard Cretenet, Dominique Crevecoeur, Penelope Cruz, Alfonso Cuaron, Estelle Cywje, Frédéric Damien, Sophie Danon, Olivier Dard, Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Isabelle Dassonville, Bruno de Almeida, Bruno de Almeida, Marion de Blaÿ, François de Lamothe, Hervé de Luze, Artus de Penguern, Valérie de Saint-Do, Virginie De Wilde, Olivier Debert, Viviane Decuypere, Guillermo del Toro, Benoît Delmas, Michel Deloore, Jonathan Demme, Nicolaine den Breejen, Ruud den Dryver, Louisa Dent, Edwin Dervaux, Dante Desarthe, Romain Desbiens, Sophie Deschamps, Thomas Desjonquères, Alexandre Desplat, Chris Devi, Rosalinde et Michel Deville, Guillaume D'Ham, Christelle Didier, Kathrin DiPaola, Claire Dixsaut, Julien Doger, Xavier Dolan, Ariel Dorfman, Jean Douchet, Jean Douchet, Fabrice du Welz, Marina Duarte Nunes Ferreira, Danièle Dubroux, Marc Dufrenois, François Duhamel, Sissi Duparc, Jean Dusaussoy, Georges Dybman, Daniel Edinger, Arne Eickenberg, Yaniv Elani, Gerónimo Elortegui, Gerónimo Elortegui, Elrem, Sam Enoch, Peter Lucas Erixon, Ernest, Ann Eyckmans, Jacques Fansten, Joël Farges, Gianluca Farinelli (Cinémathèque de de Bologne), Etienne Faure, Maud et Romain Ferrari, Michel Ferry, Jean Teddy Filippe, Aurélie Fiorentino, Alan Fischer, Martine Fitoussi, Sebastian Fleischhacker, Joy Fleury., Michael Flynn, Hugues Fontenoy, Scott Foundas, Werner Fraai, Jean-Robert Franco, Stephen Frears, Marion Frelat, Thierry Frémaux, Marc Freycon, Nadine Fruchard, Sam Gabarski, Jean Francois Gaillard, René Gainville, Sara Gandolfi, Matteo Garone, Yves Gasser, Tony Gatlif, Catherine Gaudin-Montalto, Jean-Marc Gauthier, Costa Gavras, Nathalie Geiser, Lizi Gelber, Isabelle Gély, Jean-Marc Ghanassia, Alain Gil, Véronique Gillet, Terry Gilliam, Christian Gion, François Girault, Stéphane Gizard, Nelson Gonzalez, Carlos Miguel Bernardo González, Christophe Goumand, Michel Gras, Eric Gravereau, Martin Gregus, Thierry Grizard, Philippe Gruss, Florent Guézengar, Marc Guidoni, Marta Gutowska, Mikael Håfström, Ronald Harwood, Dimitri Haulet, Geert Heirbaut, Buck Henry, Nicole Herbaut de Lamothe, David Heyman, Laurent Heynemann, Joshua Highfield , Dominique Hollier, Isabelle Hontebeyrie, Frédéric Horiszny, Robert Hossein, Jean-Loup Hubert, Wendy Hudson, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gilles Jacob, Eric et Veronique et Nicolas Jacquelin, Just Jaeckin, Thomas Jahn, Olivia Janik, Jean-Baptiste Jay, Anne Jeandet, Marie Jergan, Alain Jessua, Renate Jett, Sébastien Jimenez, Arthur Joffé, Pierre Jolivet, Kent Jones (World Cinema Foundation), Peter Josy, Alexandra Julen, Paola Jullian, Roger Kahane, Pierre Kalfon, Elisabeth Kalinowski, Reena Kanji, Nelly Kaplan, Wong Kar Waï, Nicolas Kermel, Darius Khondji, Ladislas Kijno, Muriel Kintziger, Richard Klebinder, Jonathan Klein, Harmony Korinne, Jan Kounen, Chantal Krakowski, Sylvia Kristel, Diane Kurys, Elzbieta Kusak-Majchrzak, Emir Kusturica, Irene Kuznetzova, Jean Labadie, Eliane Lacroux, Eric Lagesse, Michel Laigle, Stéphane Lam, John Landis, Claude Lanzmann, David Lanzmann, André Larquié, Pauline Larrieu, Jacques et Françoise Lassalle, Marc Latil, Carole Laure, Christine Laurent-Blixen, Pierre Laville, Emilien Lazaron, Eric Le Roy, Pierre Le Scouarnec, Fábio Leal, Vinciane Lecocq, Patrice Leconte, Linda Lefebvre, Béatrice Lefoulon, Delphine Legros, Claude Lelouch, Ann Lemonnier, Julieta Lencina, Alain Lenglet, Gérard Lenne, Les Nanaqui, Larry Levine, Charlotte Levy, Lorraine Lévy, Pierre et Renée Lhomme, Katarzyna Lipinska, Jean-Claude Irving Longin, Marceline Loridan-Ivens, Michael Louis Wells, Boris Loundine, Rachel Lowenstein, Catalina Lozano, Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski, Flore Luquet, Laurence Lustyk, David Lynch, Bania Madjbar, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Laurent Malet, Tim Malieckal, Guy Malugani, Erling Mandelmann, Michael Mann, Yvon Marciano, François Margolin, Jean-Pierre Marois, Tonie Marshall, Alain Martin, Sandrine Martin, Danielle Martinetti, Florent Martinez, Didier Martiny, Mario Martone, Thierry Mathelin, Christine Mathis, Esmeralda Mattei, Nicolas Mauvernay, Yannick Mazet, Christopher, Spencer et Claire Mc Andrew, Natalie Mei, Guillermo Menaldi, Mathieu Mercier, Muriel Mercier, Frédéric Mermoud, Laura Metaxa, Allison Michel, Radu Mihaileanu, Jean-Louis Milesi, Claude Miller, Lionel Miniato, Nelly Moaligou, Jean - Marc Modeste , Mario Monicelli, Jeanne Moreau, Frédéric Moreau, Sarah Moreau-Flament, Gael Morel, Omayra Muñiz Fernández, Stephanie Murat, Christian Mvogo Mbarga, Anna N.Levine, Charles Nemes, Juliette Nicolas-Donnard, Sandra Nicolier, Rachel Noël, Rui Nogueira, Olivier Nolin, Alejandra Norambuena Skira, Fabrice Nordmann, Fabrice O. Joubert, Marc Obéron, Michel Ocelot, David Ogando, Mariana Oliveira Santos, Szentgyörgyi Ottó, Martine Pagès, Eric Pape, Abner Pastoll, Alexander Payne, Nicola Pecorini, Richard Pena (Directeur Festival de NY), Lindsey Pence, Olivier Père, Suzana Peric, Jacques Perrin, Cesare Petrillo, Thomas Pibarot, Michel Piccoli, Arnaud Pierrichon, Stéphane Pietri, Anne Pigeon Bormans, Samuel Pinon, Claude Pinoteau, Michele Placido, Sabrina Poidevin, Agnès Catherine Poirier, Jean-Yves Potel, Stéphane Pozderec, Harry Prenger, Jean et Marie Prévost, Gilbert Primet, Marie-Hélène Raby, Philippe Radault, Tristan Rain, Florence Raphaël, Florence Raphel, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Joseph Rassam, Rolandas Rastauskas, Brett Ratner, Raphael Rebibo, Carol Reid, Jo Reymen, Laurence Reymond, Yasmina Reza, Christiane Rhein, Jacques Richard, Dominique Robert, Margarita Robski, Jean-Jacques Rochut, Christian Rogler, Yannick Rolandeau, Paul Rondags, Avital Ronell, Frank Roozendaal, Graciela Rosato, Elisabeth Roudinesco, Kontochristopoulou Roula, Laurence Roulet, Joshua Rout, Paolo Roversi, Isabelle Ruh, Martin Ruhe, Sonia Rykiel, Anita S. Chang, Esteban S. Goffin, Joaquin Sabina, Marc Saffar, Ludivine Sagnier, Gabriela Salazar Scherman, Walter Salles, Jean-Paul Salomé, Jean-Frédéric Samie, Marc Sandberg, Léo Scalpel, Jerry Schatzberg, Richard Schlesinger, Daniel Schmidt, Georg Schmithüsen, Julian Schnabel, Pierre Schoendoerffer, Barbet Schroeder, J. Neil Schulman, Pierre Schumacher, Pierre-Alexandre Schwab, Ettore Scola, Luis Gustavo Sconza Zaratin Soares, Martin Scorsese, Carole Scotta, Steven Sedgwick, Andrea Sedlackova, Frank Segier, Michèle Seguin-Sirhugue, Guy Seligmann, Elis Semczuk, Lorenzo Semple Jr, Julien Seri, Joël Séria, Catherine Sermet, Ken Seton-Vyhnal, Sophie Sharkov, Boris Shlafer, Antoine Silber, Pierre Silvant, Charlotte Silvera, Noel Simsolo, Christophe Sirodeau, Abderrahmane Sissako, Beatrice Sisul , Petter Skavlan, Marcin Sokolowski, Loïc Sorel, Paolo Sorrentino, Vassilis Sourapas, Roch Stephanik, Karen Stetler, Denise Stieglitz, Guillaume Stirn, Bernard Stora, Gérard Stum, Jean-Marc Surcin, Tilda Swinton, Piotrek Szymanek, Jean-Charles Tacchella, Radovan Tadic, Mickael Tanguy, Danis Tanovic, Bertrand Tavernier, André Techiné, Cécile Telerman, Harold Alvarado Tenorio, Marie-Ange Terrier, Alain Terzian, Christian Texier, Jean-Paul Thaens, Valentine Theret, Virginie Thévenet, Pascal Thomas, Jeremy Thomas, Marc Thomas Charley, Cyril Thurston, Giuseppe Tornatore, Serge Toubiana, Daniel Treichler, Nadine Trintignant, Julie Turcas, Mitja Tušek, Tom Tykwer, Alexandre Tylski, Stephen Ujlaki, José Antonio Valdés Peña, Jaques Vallotton, Phil van der Linden, Betrand van Effenterre, Leopold van Genechten, Christophe van Rompaey, Dorna van Rouveroy, Elbert van Strien, Vangelis, Alessio Vannetti, Lucília Verdelho da Costa, Christian Verdu, Jean-Pierre Vergne, Sarah Vermande, Julien Veyret, Francesco Vezzoli, Régine Vial, Vivien Villani, Marc Villemain, Jean-François Villemer, Daria Vinault, Verde Visconti, Alain Vorimore, Thomas Vossart, Gilles Walusinski, Eric Watton, Monika Weibel, Dominique Welinski, Wim Wenders, Andy Whittaker, Anaïse Wittmann, A Wolanin, Margot Wolfs, Peter Woltil, Arnaud Xainte, Steve Yeo, Paule Zajdermann, Christian Zeender, Terry Zwigoff.

[Alan Brody]

The question is: why would all these people support someone who was guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl? The only possible answer is that they have reasonable doubts as to whether he is guilty. Polanski has never admitted to forcing himself on the girl, only to having consensual sex with her. Samantha Giemer's family had the opportunity to take him to trial on a full-fledged rape charge, and they declined, allowing Polanski to plea-bargain instead. Years later she accepted a $500,000 settlement from Polanski. In the Wanted and Desired documentary, Samantha Giemer was asked why her mother would let her go to a house alone with a 44-year-old man who had a reputation as a womanizer. The only answer she could come up with was basically to say, "Leave my mother out of it".

[ToddBaesen]

---

Thank you very much Alan, for posting those key words:
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.

Ironically that is the title of a Fritz Lang film that Sidney Blackmer (who was cast by Polanski in ROSEMARY'S BABY) appeared in. It's also an issue that divides America and Europe: The death penalty.
No civilized country in Europe imposes a death penalty. The USA, however, seems to be in the dark ages concerning the use of this barbaric penalty.

Now, obviously, nobody really knows all the "complete facts" in this extremely complex case. People on both sides who are claiming so, are really just fooling themselves, as new information is coming out daily. So to say, "Yes he is guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt," or "No, he isn't guilty," is quite ridiculous. The truth is, that many points both sides have made in this case are based on sheer conjecture, based not on the facts, but on sensational press stories that may have been highly biased.

However, just imagine if Polanski had murdered the girl during his encounter. In the state of California, he would not just be jailed for life, but would probably be sharing a cell with Charles Mason and might already have been executed!!

Well, strangely enough, Glenn Anders and I were talking about Fritz Lang's "M" over drinks last night before seeing an animation film festival that featured Mat Dara's astonishing stop-motion film "Bedlam." Watching his film reminded me of the whole lynch mob mentality that came up many years ago in Fritz Lang's first film in Hollywood (at MGM of all studios) FURY.

In that 1936 film, all the people were so very sure Spencer Tracy was guilty! It was also a story based on a true incident that occurred in San Jose, Ca. So I can't help but think of Jonathan Rosebaum's most apt phrase which started this thread:

"American lynch mobs never die; they only become more self-righteous about their savagery."

The point I would like to make is this:
Nobody really knows what happened that fateful night, except two people, Roman Polanski and his so called "victim."

To me that suggests a case that does not meet the standards of "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"

Polanski has described what happened from his point of view in great detail in his autobiography. The young girl has asked that the whole case be dropped. Now it turns out Polanski was going to pay her $500,000. in a civil lawsuit. This brings up many new questions that have not been addressed.

However, puritanical film lovers in American seem to assume Polanski is guilty, "Beyond a reasonable doubt."

Europeans, on the other hand seem to think that the case is flawed and mostly unproven.

What I think it boils down to is this:

The highly moral Puritans, who as Orson Welles noted, destroyed Shakespeare's Theatre, and later came to America on the Mayflower, vs. the more forgiving Europeans, where the artistic cultural scene was more respected.

Obviously it's still a great divide in America. Just look at Robert Mapplethorpe's "pornographic show of photographs" that was shown and greeted with praise all across the country. Except in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, this masterful show actually ended up in court and was considered "obscene" by the local DA!

It also reminds me of a statement film director John Boorman said Lee Marvin told him: "Americans have the need to express themselves through violence because the country was founded on Genocide."

Now, who will dare to say that isn't the REAL truth! John Ford would even agree with that statement.

[Glenn Anders]

Toddy, Toddy, Toddy . . . TODY, TODY, TODY!

Just when you had said something admirable on the other thread, you commit a series of gaffes like those above.

You and I were discussing M last night (briefly), but in that Fritz Lang masterpiece, we know right from the start that Peter Lorre is a pedophile of the most pathetic and dangerous kind. The movie is not about whether he is guilty of murdering the little girl; it's about the crime's political ramifications; it's about the character's right to "due process." In Lang's American film, FURY, the director takes up a similar theme, lynching in our own country, a common practice, even in supposedly civilized places like San Jose, California, until at least the late 1940's.

But, Toddy, there is no question of Roman Polanski not receiving due process; he certainly was not lynched. He has lived a life of luxury for over 30 years, making one great film, and number of mediocre ones.

Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13 year-old girl. Don't you get that? It's called "statutory rape." The girl was not of the "age of consent." It doesn't matter how willing she might have been; it doesn't matter if the girl's parents were in on it; nor does it matter that he offered the girl $500,000 later to settle a civil action (actually, over $600,000 when paid eventually, due to accrued interest); it surely doesn't matter what Jonathan Rosenbaum or a couple of hundred American or European admirers think about it; or what the late Lee Marvin said to David Boorman. Polanski admitted to plying an underage girl with champagne and a quaalude until she was zonked, then having sex with her in every position he could think of. He agreed to a 60 day evaluation to determine whether or not he was "a sex offender." In 42 days, his psychiatric examiners determined he was not a sex offender. And so, the "reasonable doubt" I was willing to extend him on that score -- that he was worthy of some pity as a pedophile -- goes out the window. The director took a young girl in a calculated hedonistic fashion because he simply had the money and the power to do so. [I doubt that John Ford, an old-fashioned Catholic, would have defended the act, nor would he have been very forgiving. When Robert Walker eloped with his daughter Barbara, and shortly abandoned her, it is said that he sent that he sent Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen to beat hell out of the actor. And later, after she divorced her second husband, singer-actor Ken Curtis, an interviewer remarked upon the purity of Curtis's singing voice, to which Ford replied: "Yes, he has a nice singing voice, except for the day I punched his face for beating my daughter. It's hard to sing without any teeth!"]

Not only did Polanski plead guilty to what is generally known as "statutory rape," but he misused the permission he was granted to work abroad (while waiting to have his psychiatric evaluation) in order to skip the country. He broke his bond. In other words, he insulted the law, the court, and the judge's indulgence in a most unforgivable way. [To further confuse Polanski's defense, the vital element in his lawyer's attempts to have the case vacated, a line prosecutor (ironically named David Wells) who claimed in a recent documentary that he improperly attempted to influence the trial judge to hand down a harsher sentence, yesterday confessed he lied to the documentarian, and now faces possible disbarment.

While I'm sympathetic to your judgment, Toddy, that Americans are often puritanical and ignorant in the extreme, that criticism does not pertain to the rape of a young girl by a 43 year-old man. You seem to have thrown in with the French Libertines, who you will remember also invented the Guillotine.

And what Robert Maplethorpe has to do with a man pleading guilty to rape and jumping bail, I'm confounded to figure!

Glenn Anders

[ToddBaesen]

Glenn, Glenn, Glenn...

When you can't even spell my name correctly, I know you've had way to much to drink...

By the way what happened to you last night. I hope you didn't fall down in the gutter in a drunken stupor!

In any case, I'm sure you know more about the "facts" then I do. After all you've read about it and already formed an opinion that cannot be changed.

Christ almighty, if Polanski were to come back here how could he possibly get a fair trial if people like you were on the jury who have already made up their mind without seeing the evidence?

Of course, there is no possibility that the judge in the case was corrupt, is there?

Nor is it possible that everything you've heard about the case is not true?

Is is possible Polanski agreed to plead guilty, so he could get out of jail?

I guess not. Those kinds of things simply don't happen under the American system of justice, do they?

Just look at how we dealt will Richard Nixon and O. J. Simpson. So I guess I am wrong, along with all of the following people:

Woody Allen
Pedro Almodovar
Wes Anderson
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Fanny Ardant
Asia Argento
Darren Aronofsky
Olivier Assayas
Alexander Astruc
Alberto Barberas
Jean-Jacques Beineix
Marco Bellochio
Monica Bellucci
Jeff Berg
Gael Garcia Bernal
Bernardo Bertolucci
Adrien Brody
Alain Corneau
Penelope Cruz
Alfonso Cuaron
Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Hervé de Luze
Jonathan Demme
Alexandre Desplat
Ariel Dorfman
François Duhamel
Scott Foundas
Stephen Frears
Costa Gavras
Terry Gilliam
Ronald Harwood
Buck Henry
David Heyman
Gilles Jacob
Alain Jessua
Kent Jones
Wong Kar Waï
Ben Kingsley
Darius Khondji
Sylvia Kristel
Diane Kurys
John Landis
Claude Lelouch
George Lucas
David Lynch
Michael Mann
Mario Monicelli
Jeanne Moreau
Alexander Payne
Richard Pena
Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Brett Ratner
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Walter Salles
Jean-Paul Salomé
Jerry Schatzberg
Richard Schlesinger
Julian Schnabel
Barbet Schroeder
Ettore Scola
Martin Scorsese
Steven Sedgwick
Guy Seligmann
Bertrand Tavernier
André Techiné
Pascal Thomas
Jeremy Thomas
Giuseppe Tornatore
Tom Tykwer
Verde Visconti
Wim Wenders
Terry Zwigoff

[Alan Brody]

For those interested in seeing it, a 7-day rental of Wanted and Desired is available for download from Amazon for $1.99.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_ ... 1254582486

[The Night Man]

Is is possible Polanski agreed to plead guilty, so he could get out of jail?

I guess not. Those kinds of things simply don't happen under the American system of justice, do they?

I would venture to say that poor, uneducated defendants with public defenders are likely to plead guilty when they are in fact not to avoid trial and a possible (probable) harsher sentence. Rich, well-connected defendants - innocent ones - with high-priced lawyers typically do not. Especially in Los Angeles where harsh punishment is rarely meted out to celebrity defendants, no matter how outrageous their behavior.

But really, like every other thing in your special pleading, that's beside the point. Polanski did plead guilty to having sex with a thirteen-year-old and that's statutory rape. Then he fled before he could be sentenced. Those are facts about which there can be no question and for which he needs to answer. Appeals to the authority of the cultural elite and hyperbolic references to lynching are just so much flashy distraction.

And I find your referring to the "so called victim" quite disturbing. Revealing, too, since it strongly suggests someone whose mind is already made up.

[Glenn Anders]

Todd: I simply maintain that you don't understand the law, and that your august company probably at least pretends not to. Most of them have better lawyers than we could command.

Let's start with the most elementary facts:

Did Roman Polanski admit to having sex with a girl younger than the age of consent? [Yes, he did.]

Is that a crime in the State of California? [Yes, it is -- and in most civilized places.]

Did Roman Polanski agree to psychiatric evaluation to determine whether or not he was a pedophile? [Yes, he did. The determination was that he was not.]

Did Roman Polanski waive his rights to a jury trial and plead guilty to one count of having sex with a minor? [Yes, he did. OF COURSE, in hopes of a reduced sentence.]

Was Trial Judge Laurence J. Rittenband high-handed, perhaps enraptured with celebrity justice? [Quite probably, but those failings were not claimed at the time.]

Did Roman Polanski break his bond and flee the United States to avoid possible incarceration, based on his guilty plea? [Yes.]

Has Roman Polanski been an international fugitive for over 30 years? [Yes.]

Does it count that the girl, Samantha Geimer (now 45), forgives Polanski, wants the case vacated? [No, no more than, if I did should you shoot me down on Geary Street. It's out of her hands. Besides, a dozen years ago, she was paid over $600,000 to settle, out of court, a civil case. That may buy lots of forgiveness. ]

Do we have all the facts? [We never have all the facts: e.g., Line Prosecutor David Wells just recanted a supportive interview given for WANTED AND DESIRED.]

". . . could he [Polanski] get a fair trial," you ask, ". . . without [our] seeing the evidence"? [He pled guilty, Toddy, waived his right to a jury trial; the judge saw the Grand Jury transcript.]

[See: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/po ... over1.html]

Could Roman Polanski have been set up in some way? [Anything's possible, Todd, no matter how unlikely.]

Todd, in a saner world, this matter should be all over except for his extradition, sentencing on the adjudicated charge, the new one of flight to avoid jail, and the inevitable appeals. Perhaps the whole affair will be opened up again, and there will be an actual jury trial. I doubt it , but stranger things have happened. Still, as I read it, he had the opportunity of his day in court; he rejected it and agreed to take his medicine; then he reneged. Many in the artistic community maintain that he was unfairly treated. Two hundred Frenchmen can be wrong. We shall have to see.

Roman Polanski, no matter how brilliant and star-crossed, has always had a reputation for being cocky and arrogant. He thought he could get away with what he had done, and for 30 years, he did!

Our man Welles was much cautious in such matters. Remember the story he told about how he was tipped off, during the premiere runs of CITIZEN KANE, not to return to his hotel in some town? Hearst agents had arranged an entrapment, a variation of "The Old Buffalo Game," with a young girl, booze, etc. Welles didn't go back to his room that night.

If Polanski was being set up, he was not so smart as Orson Welles. (He seems to have been quite eager to enthrall himself.) Lots of crimes are committed because people are dumb, not so smart as they think they are.

Sorry about misspelling your nickname, Toddy.

Sorry, too, that I did not stick around the other night, but it was close to Midnight. Matt had shown us hospitality, and generously run his program of Art Films again, just for us, because we had tarried so long at Rassela's. I had thanked him, and I felt the need to get someplace closer to my home.

I can't seem to get it through your head that i'm quite ill, broke, and no longer able to keep up with you at two or three in the morning. It's just not fun for me these days, and if I keep doing it, I shall be dead sooner than later.

I would like to stick around a while longer -- at least, for the release of THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS and, maybe, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND.

Capiche?

I hope you do.

Glenn

[mido505]

Uh, Todd, we don't have to rely on what we might have heard about the case, because we can go right to the case itself. The transcript for the "so-called" victim's testimony is available at The Smoking Gun website, as is the transcript of Polanski's testimony during the plea bargain. If you would take the effort to read the latter, you would see that Polanski admitted his actions, and that he knew that the "so-called" victim was 13. You would also see that it was made very clear to Polanski that he could face jail time for his actions, even under the lesser charge.

Polanski did not plead guilty because he wanted to avoid jail time. He was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge because the "so-called" victim did not relish suffering through a trial during which Polanski's lawyers would portray her as an ambitious, fame-grubbing whore who seduced the unsuspecting genius in order to land a role in The Tenant. Kind of like how she is being portrayed now by some who should know better. Had Polanski been innocent, he could have refused to plea and taken his chance in court. He plead down because he was not innocent, and believed that a trial would likely lead to his conviction of "rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor" (the original charges against him). In short, he took the best deal he could get under the circumstances.

Of course, Polanski never claimed he was innocent. He just refuses to admit that what he did was wrong. He has admitted that he has "a penchant for young girls" as he puts it. He had talked about the "obvious erotic connection" that existed between him and the "so-called" victim. He admits in his autobiography that he first "made love" with Natassja Kinski when she was 15. Robert Towne, who wrote Chinatown, a greater achievement, in my opinion, than Polanski's having directed it, once said that he "found it hard to concentrate during writing sessions at Polanski's place, what with “the teenyboppers that Roman would run out and take Polaroid pictures of diving off the f***ing diving board without tops on. Which was distracting. With braces.”"

I believe, Todd, that you wrote in a previous post that Polanski had nothing in common with those abusive priests because they were serial abusers and Polanski only did it once. Wanna put money on that?

[Alan Brody]

I believe, Todd, that you wrote in a previous post that Polanski had nothing in common with those abusive priests because they were serial abusers and Polanski only did it once. Wanna put money on that?

If you're referring to Kinski, then from what I've read, the age of consent in France at that time was 15. That could be wrong, though.

[mido505]

I am not referring to Kinski, although you are correct that the age of consent in France is 15. Unfortunately, Polanski had sex with Kinski in Munich, where the age of consent at the time was 16. Oops. Polanski had a three-way with her and a 17-year old. He did say she looked older.

I merely mention Kinski, as well as the Robert Towne anectdote, to indicate a pattern of behavior with Polanski. Again, I recommend that all interested parties read the "so-called" victim's grand jury testimony, available at The Smoking Gun. The image of Polanski that emerges from that testimony is not that of a fumbling sexual neophyte; rather, it is of a practiced seducer who knew exactly what he was doing. So, given that, according to Todd "new facts" are coming to light about this case, I am going to suggest that that afternoon at Jack Nicholson's house in 1977 was not the first time Polanski said "don't tell your mother".