Roman Polanski seeks to resolve sex case, end exile

[Scurrilous]

Source: CNN

<snip>

"The judge has been dead for 15 years, and no one has been able to find the criminal case file since 2004. Yet a 1977 sex scandal involving famed director Roman Polanski and a 13-year-old girl continues to stalk the courts of Los Angeles.

Attorneys for the 75-year-old Academy Award-winning director will ask a judge Tuesday to put the matter to rest once and for all.

Lawyers Douglas Dalton and Chad Hummel last month filed a 239-page dismissal "request," citing allegations brought to light in the documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired." The documentary was first broadcast in June on HBO, which shares a corporate parent with CNN.

The court filing alleges that a meddling prosecutor who believed Polanski should be behind bars improperly influenced a judge to ignore the terms of a plea bargain, as well as the wishes of the district attorney's office, the probation officer and the victim. None of them wanted Polanski to serve jail time."

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/17/polanksi.fugitive.hearing/

[TwilightGardener]

1. Aww, poor molester. He shouldn't have to live with this terrible burden.

[Lost in CT]

2. Normally I would be willing to give the guy a pass.

But after reading the details of the rape he isn't much better than the monster who killed his wife.

[CoffeeCat]

3. What a slimeball...

Nice obfuscation.

The guy admits, that when he was 45, that he had sex with a 13-year old girl. He fed her alcohol and some Quaaludes--incapacitated her
and then had sex with her. That's called child molestation. It's rape, because a child cannot consent.

Polanski then fled the country, and avoided accountability--when he finally realized that the justice system wasn't going
to kow tow to him--just because he was a Hollywood big shot.

Now, he's trying to cloud the basic issue--Did he break the law and have sex with a 13-year old?

He's positioning himself as the victim. Everyone else is bad--the judge, the DA, etc. Polanski--the poor, poor child
molester.

Also interesting--is that Polanski claims that "the victim...didn't want Polanski to serve jail time" and argues that this
is an important point in the case.

He's still victimizing her--even after he did this.

What a sick, twisted bastard.

Typical perp--loaded with a bloated sense of self importance, no remorse and a persecution complex.

[barb162]

17. Nice analysis, maybe he thinks because it happened a long time ago

it makes no difference. To hell with him.

[ozu]

4. Sorry Roman

I'm sure you've had a tough life gallivanting between France and Poland all these years, but you're a child rapist who's never been punished.

Fuck off.

[AngryAmish]

5. Poor widdle ass-rapist

Maybe he should be sent to prison...where he belongs.

[WriteDown]

6. Sounds good to me...

Why don't you come to the US Roman and we can talk about this.

[CoffeeCat]

7. LOL!

Not a funny situation, but that made me laugh.

[tomreedtoon]

8. Oh, and for those who pity him for Charles Manson...

...and the murder of his wife and unborn child, which might have helped him go crazy like this...

I've read evidence that Polansky and the late Sharon Tate had partied with Manson, using illegal drugs. I don't recall the article entirely; he may have bought drugs from Manson, or maybe not. But they travelled in the same scummy California elite drug circles. Polansky's family was NOT a random target.


The most appropriate response is this dialog from the South Park episode about NAMBLA, when the head of NAMBLA makes all kinds of excuses and rationalizations, just as Polansky is doing.

KYLE BROSLOFSKY: "Dude. You have sex with children."

STAN MARSH: "Yeah, you know, we believe in equality for everybody, and tolerance, and all that gay stuff, but dude...f*** you!"

[Mist]

11. The Manson "family" was interlaced with the music and drug scene in

Hollywoood at the time.

Why WERE Polansky's wife and friends targeted? I've read that a recording deal was on, then off. Does that have anything to do with the murders?

As to the original post--Polansky's a sleaze who got off lightly by merely being exiled from America.

[tomreedtoon]

34. Correction: he wasn't exiled. He ran like a thief.

He didn't stay and try to prove his innocence. Which means he was either admitting his culpability, or he was incredibly stupid. (I think he could have played the Manson business and gotten sympathy, like a suspended sentence with the requirement for psychiatric treatment. Pedophilia is like jaywalking in California, especially for the rich and powerful, as long as you don't LOOK evil.)

[Mist]

39. Well, I was thinking in terms of "self-exiled." Yes, he ran like the roadrunner! nt

[xenussister]

42. Polanski's wife and friends WEREN'T targeted. They just happened to live there.

Terry Melcher had lived there when Manson knew him, but Melcher moved out and the Polanskis moved in. It was pure fluke. Anyone who lived there would have been murdered.

It's all in Vincent Bugliosi's brilliant book Helter Skelter.

[mitchum]

55. Voytek Frykowski was THE target of the Cielo Drive massacre...

it was a contract hit for a drug burn.
I enjoy "Helter Skelter" but it is a narrative of the case that the LA District Attorney's office decided to pursue. The real details were rather...messy and rather...uncomfortable for a number of people who would have not...benefitted from becoming involved in a an alternate and more rigorous line of inquiry.

[carlyhippy]

114. Manson was after Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son who was the previous tenant in the polanski home

Manson was hanging out with Dennis Wilson, drummer of the Beach Boys at the time. Manson wrote a song, and the Beach Boys ended up claming the song as their own "never learn not to love". Terry Melcher was a friend of the Beach Boys. Terry was also a producer, and supposidly told Manson that he would give him a record deal, which he didn't. Terry lived in the Cielo drive home prior to the Polanskis. They were not targeted.

[JackRiddler]

25. So if you party with "illegal drugs" you earn being massacred by the Mansons?

Maybe we should only prosecute murders when the victims aren't drug users?

Just what are you trying to say here?

[tomreedtoon]

32. Lesson: lie down with dogs, get up with rabies.

Polansky partied with a rough crowd. He wasn't a simon-pure person who was greviously picked out randomly by a psychopath. He partied WITH psychopaths.

Didn't your parents ever tell you what the consequences were for hanging around with the wrong crowd? Didn't you ever see "Mechanized Death" or any of those driver's ed films where the girl buys it in bloody fashion, because she got in a car with the wrong crowd? That was Polansky.

[JackRiddler]

38. What a disgusting rationalization.

How was Polanski supposed to know that the Mansons would massacre all those people? But never mind: how dare you come up with rationalizations that blame the victims of the Manson family?

How about the Kansas family massacred by the "In Cold Blood" killers? What was their failure? I bet some of the kids who were killed by the Columbine duo hanged out with them beforehand, so they had it coming, right?

Absolutely disgusting. Small minded. Gross. FOAD!

(And what's next, are you going to recommend "Reefer Madness" as an educational work?)

[tomreedtoon]

69. So your means of defending a child rapist...

...is to say he suffered from a violent crime? In case you hadn't seen pictures, Sharon Tate was young enough to be Polansky's daughter when he married her. He was already on that path. He just found it easier to be a child molester in Europe. It's just that he wished they all could be California girls, which is why he's trying to get back in the states without surrendering to police.

My point is that Polansky and his defenders are trying to rationalize his crime by trying to make him sympathetic. It is precisely like people wanting to forgive Bush for killing so many American soldiers and untold numbers of foreigners, just because he had a mother who was a bitch. I don't buy that, and I don't buy Polansky's excuses either.

[JackRiddler]

75. Hey, have you stopped raping children yet?

Where the fuck do you see me "defending a child rapist"? Are you mad? Is this a joke?

Unlike you, I didn't need make up what you said. Your statement implying that the Manson victims had it coming if they happened to have associated with Manson beforehand is absolutely disgusting.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

94. Welcome to the parallel dimension of a punishist's mind.

Ugly, innit?

They'll even downplay a ghastly crime in order to better play holier-than-thou on another.

[clspector]

86. Sharon Tate was 10 years younger than Polanski

He was 36 when Sharon Tate was murdered, she was 26. They met in 1967 and married in 1968. When they were 34 and 24 respectively. I doubt that Polanski could have fathered her at the age of ten as you imply below.

>>...is to say he suffered from a violent crime? In case you hadn't seen pictures, Sharon Tate was young enough to be Polansky's daughter when he married her.<<

this is just bullshit.

[readmoreoften]

47. Obama parties with a rough crowd, too. I don't support a sociopathic Republican

taking him out, though. I suppose I deserve to die for living in a crime-ridden neighborhood. What about social workers? Prison workers?

I love the "s/he was asking for it" rationalizations.

[xenussister]

40. Manson was going after Doris Day's son, Terry Melcher. I'm pro-Polanski.

Read the book Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. The Polanskis did not party with Manson.

Even if they were best buddies and partied every night, is it then ok to murder Polanski's wife and several others? Of course I pity Polanski for Charles Manson. Anything that happened later can't negate that sorrow.

Polanski is a criminal who did a horrible thing. Let there be no doubt about that. However, the original judge screwed Polanski over. The DA, Polanski and the victim had ALREADY agreed to a plea bargain. Polanski had served time, and would serve more, but under the plea bargain he would be assured of knowing exactly how much time he would serve. The judge, acting on his own, negated the plea bargain. Instead of 5 years (or whatever it was, I don't remember), Polanski could have been facing 15 years, or 20 years, or 30 years, no one knew. I can't blame him for backing away from that unknown and fleeing.

The one person who matters in all of this is the victim, and she has come out time and time again asking for them to drop the charges. Polanski served time, has apologised, and has been kept away from his adopted and beloved country for 30 years. SHE FEELS that's sufficient, and if she does, then who am I or any of you to say different?

And by the way, I'm a woman who was also raped at age 13, so I have an emotional stake in this. I wouldn't forgive him, but she does, and her wishes should be taken into account.

[JackRiddler]

76. Thank you for this perspective. From the heart.

[dysfunctional press]

83. weren't the charges about statutory rape?

in those cases, do the wishes of the victim get taken into account?

[bobthedrummer]

46. Please allow me to repost my understanding of the Manson family as a black-op, which was replicated

in the many illegal domestic dissident operations run during the Nixon administration.

On This Day 1969: Film star stabbed in "ritualistic" killings (archived thread started 8-9-2004)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2183282

[WriteDown]

57. Now I've heard it all nt.

[JackRiddler]

77. Probably not.

[clspector]

85. uhm...

>>...and the murder of his wife and unborn child, which might have helped him go crazy like this...

I've read evidence that Polansky and the late Sharon Tate had partied with Manson, using illegal drugs. I don't recall the article entirely; he may have bought drugs from Manson, or maybe not. But they traveled in the same scummy California elite drug circles. Polanski's family was NOT a random target.<<

I'm really curious where you read this "evidence." And you seem to be implying that because they "allegedly" ran in certain circles that that makes it okay that these people were SLAUGHTERED. Sharon Tate was TWO WEEKS away from giving birth. She was stabbed SIXTEEN times -- five of which were potentially fatal blows in and of themselves.

Sorry, while Polanski is a degenerate who should be in jail, Sharon Tate and the other Manson victims did not deserve to be butchered. And there is plenty of REAL evidence, you know, from the damn trial, that shows that Manson thought that Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son, was still living in that house and THAT'S why the house was picked -- because Melcher had decided not to give Manson a recording deal.

The people who were in the house that night were indeed random -- because they weren't the intended victims. They were unlucky. And certainly not deserving of their fate. No matter how many joints they may have smoked or the "Hollywood" lifestyles they may have lived.

[iverglas]

88. how do people who can't READ use the internet????

The post I am replying to DID NOT SAY that it was Sharon Tate's fault she was murdered, blah blah blah.

It said that ROMAN POLANSKI is not DESERVING OF PITY in relation to his wife's murder, because his own lifestyle was a causal factor in it.

I have no idea whether that is an accurate assessment, but for the love of fuck, can't anybody address THAT and not keep making shit up that isn't there?

The plain and obvious fact is that the murder of Polanski's wife is of the utmost irrelevance to the resolution of his admitted sexual assault of a chld.

Oh ... and the conduct of the child's mother doesn't come into that one, either ...

[Nevernose]

90. So it's Roman's fault his wife dressed like a slut?

The post I am replying to DID NOT SAY that it was Sharon Tate's fault she was murdered, blah blah blah.

It said that ROMAN POLANSKI is not DESERVING OF PITY in relation to his wife's murder, because his own lifestyle was a causal factor in it.

It wasn't her fault, it was her husband's? Blame the victim of that crime? No, it was the psycho criminals who murdered her. There's also a lot of disagreement on the details of the statutory sexual assault.

Even if it is true that Polanski was partying with the Manson family, where does that preclude a lack of empathy for the victim of that crime? And the spouse of a murder victim is, regardless of what an asshole he may be, a victim.

The rest of your post, I'm not arguing, because you're right.

[iverglas]

91. I suspect you know what my reply is

Unless you really are so stupid that you thought your post had anything to do with mine, other than being a model of how to deceitfully misrepresent another person's words and behave exactly like all the right-wing assholes of our acquaintance and supposed abhorrence behave.

[iverglas]

92. in case the problem really is incomprehension

these were the operative words in my post:

I have no idea whether that is an accurate assessment,
but for the love of fuck, can't anybody address THAT
and not keep making shit up that isn't there?

[serrano2008]

9. In related news: USA seeks to resolve sex case with Polanski

by throwing him in jail for 50 years or so. Go USA!

[Hoopla Phil]

10. No way. He is a child rapist.

[TacticalPeek]

12. Sic Dog on the sick bastard.

I'd pay to see that.

[Are_grits_groceries]

13. NO sympathy then!

NONE now!!

[marshall]

14. The victim's mother was complicit too

Which is probably why the girl at the time was calling for no jail time. The mother was afraid she'd end up in the slammer too for pimping her daughter out to an aging celebrity years before Michael Jackson made it fashionable.

[kskiska]

27. …and her father sat reading a porn magazine

when Polanski picked her up for the photo shoot. Did they think he was shooting photos for a Girl Scout magazine? The girl told him she'd had sex with an older boyfriend. Not your average Beaver Cleaver family.

[happygoluckytoyou]

15. i molested her when she was 5, but she's an adult now... isn't that a win win ? ?

SORRY ROMAN.... it's still on the books and your cowardly ASS should stay the f' outta America... go cornhole a moose

[izquierdista]

16. If there was any doubt

The comments here, from the less judgmental half of Americans, should convince Polanski that he was right to leave the land of the Puritans.

[jkirch]

29. I'm with you, izquierdista.

What a bunch of zero-tolerance jerks.

[SoxFan]

104. When it's your daughter or niece getting porked by a 40 year old...

you might feel differently.

[honoluludaniel]

31. Yeah, because being against rape makes you a biblical prude, right?

:eyes:

This guy can't even accept responsibility for his barbaric actions, he just blames the US for what he did while trying to make people 'understand' that because he's a celebrity the US is just out to get him for revenge. If Polanski were a black man with no fame or money do you think people would be crusading to have him absolved of his crimes? Of course not, and rightfully so, what he did was disgusting and has no excuse regardless of how many terrible things have happened to you in your life. Let him live his life in France, i don't have a problem with people making films with him, but don't let his ass back here just because 'alot of time has passed'. Entering this country is a privilege, not a right, and Polanski threw all that away when he raped that girl. And its odd that you support this guy considering you have an avatar of Che. If Polanski had done this in Cuba, he would have returned to France in a whole different manner.

[jkirch]

36. Right!

[PM Martin]

18. Please stay over on that side of the pond Roman.

Roman Polanski, you are scum. You are a rapist!

-also, your movies are just :scared:. No wonder you raped a little girl. :puke:

[LostinVA]

19. I agree it should be resolved, because the victim wishes it to be

She stated that publicly a few weeks ago: that she's tired of it still being an issue, because it rios her scabs off anew whenever something happens. Since she wishes it to be over, I stand behind her: let Polanski be able to freely enter the US.

[HardWorkingDem]

20. BS...

I feel very sorry for the victim, because she is a victim, but you know what? This man should not be able to be in the US. He's a degenerate and Hollywood and those that support him should be ashamed for not only that, but for how this woman now feels.

And not to be overly cynical about the whole thing, I wonder if she has been contacted by those that would like to see him in the country again.

Let the courts rule one way on this and hopefully that will be the end of it.

[LostinVA]

21. How is what the victim wants BS?

[WriteDown]

22. So husbands who beat women, but their wive's "forgive"

them should face no consequences as well? Look at current news such as the Chris Brown / Rihanna case. Even if she drops all charges, he will still be prosecuted. Its out of her hands.

[spoony]

28. And the families who forgive their loved one's killer

We should follow suit and...release them, or hug them, or something.

[iverglas]

80. and be sure not to inquire

into what inducements or intimidations might have been a factor in that forgiveness.

There are reasons why we have criminal justice systems, and abandoned the civil law as a way to deal with crimes.

[superconnected]

45. Child molesters don't usually grow out of it. Just because she forgives him

doesn't mean it's right to let him go on to his next victim.

It doesn't really matter one hoot that that victim forgives him.

[depakid]

78. Odd that we haven't seen any further cases, then

after all this time, don't you think?

It must be that the Europeans are covering them up....

[Hugabear]

66. So if I were to fuck an unconcsious 12-yr old...

...I would just have to wait a few decades until the victim were to say she just wanted to be "over with"?

I guess time really does heal all wounds!

[spoony]

30. But it's an issue because of what he did, not because of people still

talking about it. Think of how many people have to testify at parole hearings to keep the people who haunt their memories in jail. The pain that causes them still must be placed at the feet of the criminal, not the parole system. Similar problem here. It can't be "over" for her, but that isn't solved by NOT punishing her rapist.

[Gormy Cuss]

35. Polanski can expedite the resolution by entering the country and facing a little jail time.

He's always had that option. He chose to stay out of the country to avoid sentencing. He's apparently spent money on lawyers over the years trying to overturn the verdict and outside of the court room they seem confident that he was done an injustice.

The victim shouldn't have this case rearing its ugly head more than thirty years after the fact but Polanski is as much to blame for it as the courts. That he won't enter the country without some guarantee of freedom is why this case has dragged on for so long.

[DrCory]

43. And if she wished him to be executed? N/T

[iverglas]

79. perhaps if Polanski gave a shit about the victim

he wouldn't be making it still an issue that rips her scabs off anew.

Polanski seems to care, and have ever cared, about one person: himself.

His decision to drag the matter back up as an issue is his alone, and any pain it causes the victim is caused by him.

If he wants to resolve the matter, he should enter the US and allow the criminal case to run its course.

[Imagevision]

23. Roman, drugs are 13 year old then sodomized her, and states the US. is too tough on sex crimes - see

his documentary, I was living in Hollywood the week he got busted, everyone inside knew he was uptight about doing any jail-time let alone a minimum of 5 years - so him skipping to go unto to continue to make movies and actually getting an Oscar for I believe the movie "Tess" - Romie has a passion for landing at LAX with the paparazzi there...

[Romulox]

24. There's no SOL on rape, is there?

Nor is the victim's consent required to secure a conviction.

Sounds like non-arguments to me. :shrug:

[MissMillie]

33. doesn't matter, I don't think

If you can prove that someone's out of the state (this is a state charge) then the clock stops running on the SOL.

[mitchum]

26. His movies aren't even that good...

so I don't even give him the "one masterpiece is worth a hundred old ladies" pass

He's pretentious Eurotrash

[xenussister]

41. Yeah, they are. Especially The Pianist

Polanski is a brilliant filmmaker. That doesn't excuse or negate what he did, but it's a fact. Lots of great artists are assholes. Their art should be judged separately from their persona, and Polanski's is, like it or not.

[ozu]

44. I agree

Polanski a worthless piece of trash as a human being, but I tend to separate the artist from the art and his earlier stuff, especially Repulsion, is brilliant filmmaking.

[EFerrari]

50. I've never seen any film that captured the psychological realism Repulsion did.

That gave the experience to the viewer.

[EFerrari]

49. Exactly. I don't think he should get a pass even after all this time.

He already has, really, by staying out of jail. It's his right to ask for one, though.

But his films are brilliant.

[mitchum]

54. I certainly has no problem with a great artist being an asshole...

the "old ladies" quote is by Faulkner...and I agree with him completely.
Many of the figures who I have in my own "great artist pantheon" also had reputations for being "assholes"
Miles Davis
Lou Reed
T S Eliot
Ezra Pound
Chet Baker
Faulkner
Celine
and others

I will give them a pass for ANYTHING that they have done :)

I have seen all of Polanski's films, and while I have enjoyed some of the work, he has never moved me as a great artist does.
But that's just my opinion.

[GinaMaria]

56. That's a personal choice

I will not watch a Polanski film. I have no desire to support a perp even professionally. You vote as much with your dollars as you do with a ballot. He gets nothing from me. This is beyond him being an asshole. That minimizes what happened. He wasn't just a jerk to that 13 year old girl. It's not a persona. It is who he is.

I hear John Wayne Gacy was a great painter, but I wouldn't go any where near his work.

[Matariki]

71. John Wayne Gacy is not a great painter

:eyes:

He paints clowns. the sort to paintings you can find at Goodwill.

Of course it's your choice, but you are missing some great films.

[GinaMaria]

74. That is my choice

It is deliberate and thought out. I have the same policy with Woody Allen. Gacy had a following who loved his art work too. It doesn't matter if you agree in the artistic value others placed on his work. Same thing.

Your choice is to place a higher value on being entertained than choosing a side in this. Nothing wrong with that. You have access to the same information as I do. We all have different limits. I place a higher value on choosing a side, for me the only side I could possibly choose. I don't support perps. I feel strongly about it. So strongly, that it impacts decisions I make especially financial ones. Missing a film means so little to me in comparison. There's nothing wrong with that either. We simply have different values, so spare me the rolling eyes.

[iverglas]

81. extremely well put

and I agree.

Some of us shop at Wal-Mart, some of us don't; some of us don't have a lot of choice, in practical terms.

Not too damned hard to avoid putting money in the pockets of a Polanski.

[GinaMaria]

82. Thanks. Most of the disagreement here is

what I would call values-based. Being more aware of it means we can disagree without being disagreeable :-) But I'm preaching to the choir.

Peace,
Gina

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

96. As an aside, you CAN watch The Pianist without causing Polanski to get money.

Given that it's in the old movies bin in any rental store. It's already bought and paid for by the store, and there's no high demand for old movies like that.

Or you could lend it from someone who has the DVD. Hell, you could download the movie off your favorite P2P network.

I say it because the movie is that good.

[GinaMaria]

98. Thanks for the tip

I prefer not to bring anything Polanski into my home. Thanks for the out of the box thinking.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

95. The Pianist is a fucking MASTERPIECE. There, I've said it.

Feel free to point at me and howl "rapist lover" because I liked that movie.

[Missy Vixen]

70. I disagree

I still remember "Tess", and I'm sorry it isn't shown here for the most part.

I don't care for Mr. Polanski's behavior, but he should get his day in court.

[lakercub]

84. he could get his day in court

but he chose to run away. That's his problem. It's his "day in court" he is avoiding.

[timtom]

37. But she should be way older than 13 now.

Actually, although "Fearless Vampire Killers" is a favorite of mine, he was always a creepy fellow.

[Scurrilous]

48. Polanski loses court bid but gets another chance

<snip>

"A judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a 31-year-old sex case against Roman Polanski because he's a fugitive but signaled that he would reconsider if the film director returns to the United States and appears in court.

Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza said that after watching a documentary on the case he agrees there was misconduct by the now-deceased judge who arranged a plea bargain but reneged on it.

Polanski, now 75, pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl but fled to France in February 1978 after the judge threatened him with more prison time than agreed upon. That judge also said Polanski would have to voluntarily deport himself.

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

Espinoza stayed his own decision until May 7 and ordered attorneys to appear in court then."

more

[MilesColtrane]

51. "sex scandal"?

That should be "rape scandal".

[SoxFan]

105. Child rape and running from the law like a coward

[onager]

52. From someone who has actually seen the documentary...

Polanski: Wanted and Desired. Apparently none of the DU Torch-and-Pitchfork Brigade in here have seen the damn thing...

1. Both the prosecutor and defense attorney agreed the trial judge was way out of line. They actually joined forces to work against him. That's extremely rare, since the prosecutor was a Mormon known around the D.A.'s office for being very strait-laced.

In fact, one member of the D.A.'s office at the time said a funny thing in the docu.

He claimed that Mormon prosecutor got the Polanski case because he was the ONLY lawyer in the D.A.'s office who had not had sex with an underage female.

:rofl:

2. The judge changed the conditions of Polanski's sentence whenever the media criticized him. He was a notorious publicity hog who maintained his own clipping service. That's one of the things that outraged the prosecutor.

3. Polanski wasn't shooting the photos as private wank material. He was on assignment from Paris Vogue.

4. As others have pointed out, the victim's family were at least complicit. Who lets their 13-year-old daughter go on an unsupervised photo shoot with Roman Polanski? At Jack Nicholson's house, no less.

The victim is interviewed in the docu and absolutely will not discuss that aspect of the events. Apparently her mom was a fairly typical Hollywood stage mother: a bit actress who pushed her kid toward every opportunity for "stardom." I've lived in L.A. for many years, and this is not unusual at all. (Actually, I've lived in Egypt for the past 3.5 years. But am going home soon!)

5. Oh, the victim has forgiven Polanski and says he has been punished enough. Of course, this should not in any way deter the DU Lynch Mob.

[GinaMaria]

58. You're rolling on the floor laughing about this?

He claimed that Mormon prosecutor got the Polanski case because he was the ONLY lawyer in the D.A.'s office who had not had sex with an underage female.

Did you mean that the way it is coming across? Is there some information missing between the text and your ROFL?

As for 2-5, they don't change what he did. He's a rapist and he fled.

[onager]

59. Yep. Hypocrisy usually makes me ROFL.

e.g., consider the current law in California, where it is illegal for an 18-yr-old woman to buy a beer. However, it is perfectly legal for her to have sex with multiple partners in front of a camera, for pay.

[GinaMaria]

60. sounds like criminality makes you ROFL

We are talking about a 13 year old and laughing because "Everyone was doing it" is sick and corrupt.

[onager]

61. Outrage duly noted and filed, thanks.

Personally I think it's "sick and corrupt" to pimp out your 13-year-old daughter. But I'm old-fashioned that way.

[Hugabear]

67. So you think it's okay to get a 13-yr old child drunk, and have sex with her?

The details of the court case notwithstanding, do you think it was acceptable for Polanski to do what he did? Do you think that he committed a crime?

[GinaMaria]

73. I never said otherwise, but I'm not laughing

at aggravated criminal sexual assault, you are. So, you find the parents sick and corrupt but those who rape 13 year olds are a laugh riot? that's a pretty tough position to defend which is why I'm guessing you've switched to talking about the parents. That was never the issue, I brought up. I brought up YOUR ROFLing at the rape of under aged girls.

Her parents' actions don't make him more or less of a rapist or the girl any less raped. Are parents who are complicit in the sexual abuse of their children criminal? Absolutely, but that doesn't give anyone a free pass on rape. The parents are a separate issue. How much they knew or even agreed to, doesn't change the fact that Roman Polanski raped a 13 year old girl. That you believe other lawyers are just as guilty for doing the same thing, doesn't change the fact that he raped a 13 year old girl.

Should we stop prosecuting people for crimes because there are those who don't get caught committing the same crimes? Your position is ridiculous, but anyone who saw your post ROFLing about under aged girls being raped already knew that.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

97. There's more inappropriate laughing at post #7.

Oh, wait, that one is in the "right" side of the debate so THAT gets a pass.

[GinaMaria]

99. Not the same unless I'm reading #7 wrong

I think the 'humor' is that RP won't come to the US to talk about it because he will be arrested and the poster knows it. Offering an invitation he or she knows will never be accepted, while also not having the authority to issue such an invitation. While not funny, it does not laugh at horrific violence forced on those who are underage.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

103. "it does not laugh at horrific violence forced on those who are underage."

Neither does onager's.

Double standard.

[GinaMaria]

108. Here's the line right before the rofl

He claimed that Mormon prosecutor got the Polanski case because he was the ONLY lawyer in the D.A.'s office who had not had sex with an underage female.

My first response gave him/her a chance to clarify to see if something belonged between this line of text and the ROFL. What is funny about adults having sex with underaged girls? That is rape and in my state it is aggrevated criminal sexual assault. Not funny. Really disgusting actually.

Post 7, while not funny, doesn't laugh at illegal activity as far as I can tell. :shrug:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

109. On second thought, I think Onager made a big mistake.

He assumed everybody can read.

[GinaMaria]

111. Ahhh you can't defend it either

It really is foul.

I read it just fine, over and over. Tried to get clarification. There was none. It is what it is.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

63. wow-- you may be the first person to find child molestation funny

[Hassin Bin Sober]

64. I saw it too.

It certainly puts a different light on the subject.

If I remember correctly, Polanski had already done some time, went through psych evaluation, was deemed to not be a threat, and made a deal with the prosecutor AND the judge.

I remember the prosecutor was interviewed and he said the judge was a publicity hound whack-job who set up a script of how things would go in the court room - basically encouraging perjury on behalf of the defendant AND the prosecutor.

The deal was Polanski would spend a couple more weeks? Months? in the jail and/or psych unit and be released on probation.....

......untill the shit hit the fan when Polanski was photographed in ..Munich? in a beer hall drinking a beer next to female cast members.

The press went crazy and the judge quipped to someone in a restaurant bathroom that he was going to crucify Polanski and go back on the deal as he was more worried about HIS OWN public image.

[Milspec]

72. I say let him rot in the EU

While he waits for his next wife to be born.

[SoxFan]

106. There's a reason we have appellate courts

Deal with the concerns that way. Don't be a spineless weael and flee the country right before sentencing.

Fuck Polanski.

[Chovexani]

53. If Polanski were black or Latino

He'd have been executed 20 years ago.

[Hugabear]

68. Too bad Polanski wasn't a Catholic priest

He would have just been reassigned to a different parish, and the whole thing swept under the rug.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

62. Isn't there a statute of limitations---

I'm not advocating child molestation or that there should not be a statute of limitations, but molestation and rape charges have statues of limitation so why is it different for Roman?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

65. The statute of limitations clock typically stops running when you flee the jurisdiction....

.....to avoid prosecution.

The SOL theory is to provide relief for a person living in the open under the threat of prosecution for a crime the state didn't/doesn't feel compelled enough to prosecute. Not people who evade or flee.

[prayin4rain]

87. Gross... and why didn't Woody Allen have to go into exile? n/t

[Tyrone Slothrop]

102. Ummm...what crime did Woody commit?

He never broke any laws.

[prayin4rain]

107. Laws of decency and humanity. I was adopted and if my dad had

started taking naked pictures of me and sleeping with me at the age of 17.... I would want him charged. I mean if it did not so thoroughly screw me up that I married my molester. And whether or not he TECHNICALLY adopted her or not does not matter to me. He raised her from the time she was 10 years old.

[kskiska]

110. Woody never raised Soon-Yi

He was never married to Mia Farrow and they never even lived in the same house. How old was Mia when she met and married Frank Sinatra? She later moved on to break up Andre Previn's marriage and marry him. Mia and Previn adopted Soon-Yi.

[prayin4rain]

113. ok... i am just at a loss here

He was with her mother for 12 years starting when the child was 10. I guess there is no point discussing it... there is noway I am going to see eye to eye on this issue with people who see it as OK.

[1]

89. who here doesn't have forgiveness in their heart?

who here hasn't made mistakes in their past?

let's move forward...

[Romulox]

100. I've never raped a child. Have you?

"Everybody makes mistakes" is not a defense to rape.

[Imagevision]

93. oh c'mon, Roman only drugged and sodomized a 13 year what? - 32 years ago, it's Hollywood!

and besides, hasn't he recently paid down the (now a savvy woman) $$$ since?

[Romulox]

101. He can "resolve" this matter by reporting to prison. nt

[merh]

112. He should be allowed to return to serve his sentence

and for no other reason.

Since he admitted to his crime, retry him and resentence him. Let justice be served.