Polanski ordered back to US

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I've looked into this and can 't find any facts that state he had a plea bargain. Every news report I can find says he was put away for a 90 day psychiatric evaluation in preparation for sentencing.
Interestingly enough, one of the news reports says, "... the law provides automatic deportation for those convicted of crimes of moral turpitude who are sentenced to one year or more in prison." If that is correct, he wouldn't spend more than a year in prison here under any circumstances.

From another Polanski thread...clearly there was a plea bargain in place..

Originally Posted by Dueller

Not trying to defend Polanski, but my most recent statutory rape client was a nobody college student and it was plea bargained down to a contributing to delinquency charge (misdemeanor) and got 1 yr probation, a $1000 fine and did not have to register as a sex offe3nder for the rest of his life, so I don't buy his celebrity as the sole reason he was able to cut a deal.

Not trying to blame the victim but in my client's case as well as the Polanski case there were mitigating factors and a family that did not want to put the victim on the witness stand and parents who did not see where putting a person in jail would serve any real purpose. And in my case the judge was willing to accept the recommendations of the prosecutor, psychologists, investigators, and victim's family and not renege on a plea deal for his own ambition. While Polanski's actions were abhorrent and he deserved punishment, its not as if he picked an innocent child of chaste character up at a playground.

See the attached letter ffrom the victim's lawyer given to the judge at the hearing where Polanski enter his plea BEFORE the got wind the judge was not going to accept the plea. Keep in mind Polanski would not have pled guilty had the plea bargain not been struck. So it has been the victim's and her parents' desire to not incarcerate Polanski long before now.





Of course Polanski really complicated his legal troubles by fleeing the country. IMHO that may be more serious from a legal perspective than his sex act.

[wdfifteen]

I thought the only plea bargain was that five of the charges were to be dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to the 6th. This would have served the family's goals of not wanting the girl to have to be a witness in a trial and having Polanski admit guilt. A subsequent sentence would also help to serve the public's need for some manner of justice.
I can't find anything to support Dottore's contention that the plea bargain was about sentencing. News stories of the period indicate that he was released from psychiatric evaluation and was waiting to be sentenced when he fled the country and that his attorney hoped the judge would not send him to prison, but there was no firm deal that he wouldn't.

[Dueller]

Well, he fled the night before sentencing after meeting with his lawyer. This was subsequent to the psych eval (required by CA law at the time) that reccomended no prison and subsequent to the ADA (Gunnson, IIRC) stating he was recommending time served based on the evaluation, etc. Although there is speculation, it appears that Gunnson (or perhaps the girl's family atty) contacted Polanski's atty after he found out another ADA (not connected to the case) was earwigging the judge to sentence Polanski to prison. And info that the Judge had aspirations of a book/TV deal since he was getting ready to retire and wanted to parlay his eye in the public spotlight over the case into financial gain.

If true it certainly brings into play Higgins' sugestion that the Judge and DA's office were acting improperly...in any event someone tipped off Polanski's lawyer and the rest is history.

So in a sense the plea bargain had been struck with no set sentence and as is always the case the judge didn't have to accept it. In fact, Polanski could have withdrawn his plea prior to sentencing but had he the apparently biased and personally ambitious judge would have really hammerted him.

Here's a link to the transcript of the plea if you're interested: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0928091polanskiplea1.html

[Turbo_pro]

This attorney's letter to the judge tells us two very important things.
First, the judge was fully within his rights and it was in fact his duty to determine if the plea bargain was a suitable resolution the this case. In requesting that the judge honor the plea the author of the letter is acknowledging that the sentence is not a predetermined quantity.
If the victims lawyer knows the sentence is not written in stone you must assume that Polanski's attorney was equally aware.

Second: the crime was so heinous that simply testifying to the particulars of the rape would constitute abuse.

[RWebb]

the state & feds have announced that they are evaluating other options (so they are are not ready to let this rest)

[Turbo_pro]

Originally Posted by RWebb

the state & feds have announced that they are evaluating other options (so they are are not ready to let this rest)

Translation: Put a finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.

If the Daily Show says "let it go", the liberals at in the DAs office & Justice will see that as a policy statement.