Regarding the appellate case:
The question rises, in part, out of a documentary about the case released last year in which a deputy district attorney described how he had coached the judge about Mr. Polanski’s sentencing.
Los Angeles prosecutors have long argued that Mr. Polanski forfeited his rights by fleeing and has no standing to challenge his treatment unless he returns. Mr. Polanski’s representatives counter that the need to remedy corrupt justice in Los Angeles supersedes any requirement that Mr. Polanski return. The victim in the case, Samantha Geimer, has long publicly identified herself and expressed forgiveness of Mr. Polanski.
In addition to the current French Culture Minister's criticism of the U.S. justice system, a former Minister weighs in:
Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, said that for Europeans the development showed that the American system of justice had run amok.
“Sometimes, the American justice system shows an excess of formalism,” Mr. Lang said, “like an infernal machine that advances inexorably and blindly.”
Polanski pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sex with a person under 18. The remaining charges against him, including the ones most frequently cited by those calling for his head, were dismissed. The transcript of the guilty plea hearing is here.
On page 16 of the plea colloquy, the Judge advised Polanski that the plea deal was not binding on him and he would not make a decision until he had read the probation report, and that if he decided not to go along with the plea agreement, Polanski would be allowed to withdraw his plea. As required by law, he then ordered Polanski into custody for the psych evaluation so doctors could determine whether he was (in the words of the statute) a Mentally Disordered Sex Offender. If he were found to be one, he could be sentenced to an indeterminate term in the state mental hospital.
The probation report came back finding Polanski was not a MDSO and recommended probation with no further jail time (Polanski had spent 42 days in custody for the psych eval.)
That seems to be when things really started going south -- with the Judge and the prosecutor (the one not involved in the case) cooking up a scheme to send Polanski back to to prison saying he needed more time in the psych ward and attempting to force him into a voluntary deportation. (The Judge had the power at that time to recommend against deportation should the feds institute an a proceeding, but it could not order Polanski deported or force him, as a condition of his sentence, to voluntarily deport himself.)
The victim in the case, then 13, testified before the grand jury. Polanski and his lawyers were not present at that hearing and like all grand jury testimony, the presentation of evidence was one-sided and not subject to cross-examination. That's not to say it was false, just that it was untested.
The documentary, Wanted and Desired, shows the collusion between the prosecutor and the judge via interviews with the prosecutor, Polanski's lawyers and the prosecutor handling the case. (I'm in the middle of watching it, I'll write more on it when I've finished. If you have a streaming Netflix account, it's available for immediate viewing.)
