Polanski loses bid

[paulsby]

Source: AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A judge on Thursday dismissed Roman Polanski's bid to throw out a decades-old sex case because the fugitive director failed to appear in court to press his request.

___

excellent.



No link yet.

[Orrex]

1. Bet he'll think twice before raping a minor ever again

[dorkulon]

6. Oh I doubt it.

It's unlikely this was just an isolated incident.

[marshall]

7. At least an American minor

No charges filed in France yet. What is the age of consent there? It's 15 in France--probably too old by his standard.

[paulsby]

11. he should move to canada. it's 14 there

of course, if you drug a 14 yr old before having sex with her, you may still have problems.

[marshall]

12. And it's only 12 in Vatican City

I read that after I posted France's age. But it is age 15 if there is a teacher/student relationship.

Why does Vatican City even HAVE an age of consent for sex?

[paulsby]

15. 12?

lol. wow.

it's like thailand, with roman architecture.

[happyslug]

18. That is ITALIAN LAW, and only if the parties are within 3 years of each other

See by comment below, by the terms of the Lateran Treaty, Italian law applies to the Vatican unless the Vatican expressly rejects it. Right now the age of Consent in Italy is 14, except if the parities are within three years of each other, then 12.

[No Elephants]

20. Forurteen is still young if an 18 year old is involved. Or a 40 year old. Then again, look who's

in charge of Italy. http://www.pollsb.com/polls/p2114576-meet_noemi_letizia_18_year_old_hottie_behind

But. you'd expect the Vatican would give 14 year olds more protection than Berlusconi does.

[happyslug]

27. The, push for age 14 is strong even in the US

The law in Pennsylvania is statutory law is 16, unless both parties are within four years of each other then the age is 14.

[paulsby]

30. WA is 16

but 15 and 14 are legal if the other person is within so many months of the 15/14 yr old.

i used to be a cop in hawaii when the age of consent was 14 there.

i recall more than one pissed off parent when i told them that the 40 yr old banging their precious 14 yr old was not committing a crime.

otoh, i recall some idiot getting 5 yrs for having sex with a 13 yr old who was 3 months short of her 14th birthday.

he couldn't WAIT?

[Mari333]

21. LOL Duzy nt

[happyslug]

17. Italian Law applies to the Vatican States, you are confusing Canon Law with Criminal Law,

Canon Law applies to Vatican State, and it states 16 is the age of Consent
But that is for the possibility of EXPELLING the Offender from a position within the Church NOT criminal sanctions.

For more on Canon Law see:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM

Title VII, Canon 96 goes into when an person is "Mature", except for using age 7 to separate Infants from other Minors and age 18 for separating Minors from people who are "of Age" not much except it notes that whenever a minor reaches the "Age of Reason" they may be confirmed but NOT before that time.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM

As I pointed out about, this is CANON LAW Rule NOT a Criminal Statute. Canon Law bans sex between a Person with a Position within the Catholic Church with anyone younger then age 16, but restricts it to expulsion from the Priesthood. Please note this is CANON LAW and intended for internal use by the Church. See Canon Law, Title V, Canon 1395 §2 for details on what is banned under this section of Canon Law.

As to Criminal Statutes, under the terms of the treaty with Italy signed in 1929, and revised in 1984, Italian Law (Including Criminal Law) applies to the Vatican State, unless expressly rejected by the Vatican. Till October 2008 the Vatican rarely exercised this right of Rejection, in October 2008 the Vatican said it will start to review ALL laws passed by the Italian Legislature and adopt them only if "Not compatible with Church Teachings".

In simple terms, unless Italy has changed its laws of Sexual age of Consent since January 1, 2009, whatever is Italian law is the law in the Vatican UNLESS the Vatican rejected it (And that was RARELY done prior to October 2009, the only cases I found was a rejection of the Anti-Semitic Laws Italy adopted during WWII).
http://www.thetrumpet.com/?q=5813.4169.0.0
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5424552.ece

On the Lateran Treaty setting up the Vatican State AND its laws being the same as the laws of Italy (Unless rejected):
http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Vatican.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty

Age of Consent is 14 in Italy, unless the parties are within three years of each other then it is age 12:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Europe#Italy

[marshall]

24. That Wikipedia page also has a paragraph on the Vatican

It give a little more detail.

[No Elephants]

19. OMG

[CoffeeCat]

2. Roman thinks that molesting young girls...

...is no big thing, because it happened years ago.

Sorry, you degenerate---it is a big thing.

What an arrogant SOB.

[cherokeeprogressive]

32. I remember reading somewhere that he was banging Natassia Kinski when she was 15 and he was 40+

At least his travel is limited to a handful of countries due to his fear of being extradited. If he would have returned and did his time years ago, he'd be a free man right now I think.

edited for clarity

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Is his victim even willing to testify?

I saw a piece on TV about this case and they interviewed the victim, who is now a grown woman, and I got the feeling she wanted to just move on with her life. I wondered at the time if she would even testify.

[paulsby]

8. she doesn't need to testify

he's been adjudicated guilty already. like 20 yrs ago.

she DOES want his sentence dropped. iow, she's willing to forgive. that's great, but he was still convicted, and note that there's next to no doubt that he actually did it.

iow 1) drugged a 13 yr old girl
2) had sex with her.

whether the sex was forcible or not IS debatable, but largely irrelevant since she was THIRTEEN and he drugged her.

[Mike Daniels]

9. His sentence can be dropped after he's actually served some time

Let him serve a few years and I'd be content with the sentence being commutued.

He may be talented but he's a prick who fled justice.

[paulsby]

10. i agree

if he wants to come back to the US, he needs to serve some time.

period.

[depakid]

13. If he was smart, he wouldn't even want come back to the US

because I'm entirely sure that the authorities could be trusted to keep any deal that they made.

The depth of Americans need to exact their pound of flesh is far too great to take that risk. Least that's what I'd be advising, if I were counsel.

[paulsby]

16. well yes

and it SHOULD be this way.

this guy drugged and raped a 13 yr old.

he NEEDS to be flayed (metaphorically speaking) of at least a lb.

i mean really, what a frigging loser, anyway.

married to sharon tate, and he was somewhat of a hollywood bigwig. not unattractive either. people like that have women throwing themselves at them.

for pete's sake, jack nicholson gave him access to his house (that's where the rape occurred).

but that's not enough.

he's gotta drug and rape a 13 yr old.

LOSER

[trudyco]

26. WHat was a 13 year old doing at Nicholsons house? nt

[paulsby]

29. he lured her there

he was a bigwig hollywood director.

i don't recall all the sordid details, i read some of the case papers about 5 yrs ago, but iirc he lured her there with basically the promise ot make her a star, get her in pictures, that sort of thang.

and entirely irrelevant. she was 13. even if he hadn't DRUGGED her etc. it was ipso facto illegal to have sex with a 13 yr old in california.

PER-I-OD.

[Milspec]

23. Let Polanski rot in France

He's just waiting for his next "girlfriend" to be born.

[depakid]

25. Proving my point

and making Americans look exceptionally bright at the same time....

[DainBramaged]

33. France ain't a bad place to rot..........

I'd rather be there than in the Albania. :shrug:

[NashVegas]

22. If You Credit Her Testimony

He raped her.

[mitchum]

4. Poor man...

forced to live in exile in a French hellhole

[MilesColtrane]

5. I guess he just couldn't tear himself away from hanging out at the local junior high school.

The French have a word for guys like him: Le'scum

[JeanGrey]

14. Good.

[UndertheOcean]

28. Mr. Polanski , thank you for all the wonderful movies that deeply enriched

our shared human culture . Those will be remembered forever.

But you raped a minor . That is a CRIME , and you must pay for it .

[graywarrior]

31. I'm gonna have to create a spreadsheet listing important things and stuff

I don't give a shit about. DU is becoming way too complicated for my pea sized brain to handle.