Comments | deeteeuk: Swiss rolled.

deeteeuk

Swiss rolled.

Sep 28, 2009 17:27

The whole Polanski issue has me a little foxed. As far as I can gather, a man had sex with a thirteen year old girl, and got caught. He was then charged with about six counts. He pleaded guilty to one count as part of a plea bargain, and then skipped the country, staying "fugitive" in France for thirty years. What happens after that, with the ( Read more... )

Comments 20

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deeteeuk September 28 2009, 16:44:10 UTC

See, that's worse than I was aware of. I do not understand the furore. Sex criminal arrested, film industry enraged. In this case, the film industry can go fuck itself.

kirstenlj September 28 2009, 16:56:33 UTC

He wasn't tried and I think it would be impossible to retrospectively evaluate his psychiatrically condition at the time.

If it was my 13 year old daughter I wouldn't have let her go off with Polanski in the first place and I would've done whatever it took to get justice 30 years ago. And actually, if it was my daughter and she was begging for the charges to be dropped because it was ruining her and my grandchildren's life - that's what I would want to happen.

deeteeuk September 28 2009, 17:30:35 UTC

I do see where you're coming from, but he did plead guilty, and then flee the country. With regard to the victim's wishes, it's a very, very tough call, but one that is, I think, to be made by the US justice system. What I'm confused about is all the people that think the Swiss authorities are entirely out of line.

kirstenlj September 28 2009, 18:07:28 UTC

I do see where you're coming from, but he did plead guilty, and then flee the country.
Yes, I know. There were questions over the judge's conduct at the time. A current US judge has said there was "substantial misconduct" with the case.

I think there's a lot wrong with a lot of people's behaviour to do with this and I don't believe it is in the public interest or the victim's interest to pursue a case that cannot be fairly and legally settled.

but one that is, I think, to be made by the US justice system
What? After they let him out and leave the country in the first place? After they plea bargained her rape? No, I really think her wishes to just be left to live her life in peace should be paramount.

"What happened that night, it's hard to believe, but it paled in comparison to what happened to me in the next year of my life," she said in 2008.

"He did something really gross to me, but it was the media that ruined my life," she told People in 1997.

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kirstenlj September 28 2009, 18:08:41 UTC

What I'm confused about is all the people that think the Swiss authorities are entirely out of line.
Probably because he owns a house there and is in and out all the time so it seems inconsistent, I guess?

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itsjustaname September 28 2009, 17:00:38 UTC

Nope, that's pretty much my view of the situation.

zotz September 28 2009, 17:14:44 UTC

Depends. Is having sympathy with someone incompatible with thinking they still have to face the consequences?

deeteeuk September 28 2009, 17:31:29 UTC

No, I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. In this case, I have no real sympathy for Polanski. I sympathise with what he must have been through with losing his wife etc.

nils September 28 2009, 18:14:18 UTC

Well, you missed out the bits about the terms of the plea bargain being changed after his guilty plea, and the judge colluding with the prosecution...

deeteeuk September 28 2009, 18:34:54 UTC

As I've said above, there would appear to be issues, and these should be addressed. But I don't think that this is achieved by staying in France for thirty years saying "I'm not coming back until it all goes away". Again, I'm not being emotive, I just think that his arrest and the case being dealt with is not necessarily an awful thing.