on statutes, limitations, and extradition

[silveraspen]

Okay.  We all know I'm not a lawyer, right?  That said, regarding the case of Roman Polanski:

1. He pled guilty in 1977 to "unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor."  Leaving aside the grand jury testimony and all the awful things he could have been charged with had he not chosen to waive his right to a trial in order to accept a plea agreement,

Comments

[spicedrum]

AGREED!

to all of this

[spicedrum]

p.s. May I link some friends over here, or would you rather I didn't?

[silveraspen]

I have no objections -- link away!

[spicedrum]

will do!

[silveraspen]

VERY good point about the state of the law back then. I may try to find it out of curiosity, but as you noted-- the point re: fleeing still stands, so.

Just-- argh. You know?

[cincodemaygirl]

Excellent rundown of the facts--thank you.

[silveraspen]

You're quite welcome. I was glad to do it. I just wish his actions hadn't made it necessary in the first place.

[meril]

...OK, how did they manage NOT to get him successfully extradited over the past 31 years?..wait, should have RTFA, apparently LA County has an epic case of communications fail.

(I know nothing about this case, other than this post, and if your particulars are correct this guy is definitely on a list of America's Stupidest Fugitives. If not for the County being overloaded w/cases, but the guy should know what countries have valid extradition treaties if he's going to flee a sentence.)

[silveraspen]

It's fairly amazing how freely he's traveled all these long years; I suppose it's a challenge to get a warrant for a jet-setter and match it to the place where he would be.

Kudos to Switzerland for being on the spot with the document in hand when all the pieces came together.

[embitca]

According to what I've read, they've only actively pursued him since about 2005. And since then, they've had a hard time tracking his movements. Either they don't get word that he's going to be someplace until it is too late to get the paperwork in order, or they got the paperwork in order and then he never showed up.

The only reason they managed it in this case is because it's been publicized for months that he was going to be accepting this award in Switzerland.

[meril]

they've only actively pursued him since about 2005

I'm still trying to decide if that makes them look even worse at this point.

[antigone_ks]

spicedrum pointed me this way, and thank god for voices of reason. You're so much more articulate than me. I can just about manage a keyboard smash.

[silveraspen]

Oh, keyboard smashing definitely has its place! Especially in situations like this.