Polanski seeks to have child molestation charges dropped

Thirty years after he fled the U.S. to avoid sentencing on child molestation charges, Academy Award-winning director Roman Polanski has filed a formal request to have the case dismissed.

Lawyers for Polanski, a French citizen, cited misconduct by prosecutors and a judge in papers filed in L.A. County Superior Court today. The attorneys said that a recent HBO documentary about the case, “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,” “revealed a pattern of misconduct and improper communications between the Superior Court and the district attorney’s office in violation of the rule of law and without the knowledge” of the director and his defense.

In 1977, Polanski, was charged with several sex crimes involving a 13-year-old girl. He was convicted on charges of unlawful intercourse with a minor but left the United States before sentencing.

The district attorney’s office has not been served with the motion yet, a spokeswoman said.

Polanski, whose directing credits include “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” continued to work in Europe after he fled the United States, winning a best director Oscar for "The Pianist."

There had been much debate in Hollywood and beyond about whether Polanski should be permitted to return to the U.S.

Back then, the director met an actress living in Woodland Hills who allowed him to take photos of her 13-year-old daughter -- ostensibly for a layout Polanski was shooting for French Vogue. After a tryout session, Polanski drove the girl to Jack Nicholson's home. According to the girl, Polanski gave her champagne and a Quaalude and later had sex with her. Her mother went to the police, who arrested Polanski. Nicholson was not at the home at the time of the incident.

Polanski did not deny having sex with the girl but said it was consensual. Two weeks after Polanski was arrested, he was indicted by a grand jury on six counts, including rape, but reached a plea bargain in which he pleaded guilty to a lone count of having sex with a minor, punishable by six months to 50 years in prison. Fearing deportation or prison, Polanski fled to France, which does not extradite its citizens under any circumstances.

--Harriet Ryan

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[kirk maillet]

maybe roman has lost HIS LUST AND/OR THE ABILITY TO FUNCTION W/ 13 YR OLD GIRL HE CAN DRUG AND SODOMIZE. Maybe he is safe from these crimes against children. Even so we R not immune to apathy to crimes against children here in America. it's a priveligde 2 live here. Stay safe in FRANCE RP they deserve U

[ch]

The 13 year old who is now about 45 is also asking for a dismissal... Does't mean HE should get one. Maybe she would like it all to go away so she can get on with her life. Either keep your sorry a** in France or return and do your time because you did do the crime. There should be no get out of jail free pass just because you've made some movies. How bad could it have been living in France. No dismissal...........I don't want to loose all faith in our justice system.

[Ray]

When a crime is committed in this country it's not the victim's job to either forgive or convict the suspect; it's on a court to do this. It doesn't matter how the victim feels about it at this point. While Polanski has not been convicted (due to his cowardly fleeing to Europe) he has indeed admitted his guilt. This isn't about being jealous or bitter toward him; it's about justice and the belief in the judicial process. You people pleading for leniency need to get your priorities straight.

[A Grun]

The US justice system is a joke, where charges and evidence are fabricated as needed. he would be an idiot to return to the US.

[Texan]

Roman should have to have some penalty.. How about 80 hours of community service. After all it was 30 years ago and he has escaped incarceration over the last few years...

[Bruno]

Polanski is a hero in France and rightly so. What he did was wrong, but as has been said, the guy survived the holocaust and then had to live through the brutal murder of his wife. Also try to remember that even America wasn't obsessed with paedophillia like the world is today. If the woman can forget and forgive then lets just be grateful for his films which will be remembered long after the people posting here have turned into worm meal.

[dreambig]

Wow! Nabokov sees Polanski as his hero. Maybe Nabokov sees OJ Simpson as another hero. Nabokov makes my skin crawl, just as Polanski did. I think Polanski is doing just fine out of this country and that is where he should stay. There are killers on death row who have been forgiven by the murdered victims relatives, but that does not mean they should be let off. Maybe the gentlemen who thinks the charges should be dropped because P is a "genius", would like it if the same thing happened to his 12 or 13 year old daughter. He'd say, oh just forget about it. There is only one person responsible for this crime and it's P. Actually some said the Nazi heirarchy were geniuses, so should they have been forgiven for their crimes?

[V. Nabokov]

Roman Polanski est mon héros!

[Ron]

I believe the black gentleman in the background is newsreporter Tony Cox. I agreed with an earlier email. How come there's no outcries of boycott and smear of all the celebrities who visit Polanski and also starred in his movies?

[Ken Camp]

The so-called 13-year-old girl in the case is now an adult and a few years ago back wrote a newspaper commentary about how Polanski should be left alone. Looks like she can move ahead with her life. Why can't the Los Angeles Times readers who appear to be so jealous and bitter?

Ken Camp, Los Angeles

[Duane]

This guy is garbage and should be treated as such.

[steve kindel]

Interesting that only one reply brought up Sharon Tate (Polanski's wife) murder. I was living in Greece at the time, but I was always convinced that the murder was a put-up job. Polanski, even in those days, was a notorious womanizer. It would have been nice back then if they'd had DNA testing, so they could settle the question of whether the baby was Polanski's, or if he hired Manson t do the deed. You'll never convince me otherwise. If Polanski steps onto American soil, he ought to be arrested for all his past crimes, not just the rape with which he is charged.

[MeAsT]

Really he didnt have to leave the country he coulda just put out a couple of appologetic cds and act like he did nothing wrong a la R Kelly...21 counts of child molestation all dropped...i still dont see how thats possible....money talks....lock em both up!

[charles krup]

the age of consent should be 13 in the U.S. It used to be 12. In Spain it's still 13.
This country is so puritanical! Also Polanski is a genius, so drop the charges. Yes, geniuses should be given special treatment.

[robin]

This probably has nothing to do with it but people forget that years before he committed this rape, his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered by the Charles Manson clan. Now i don't know, i have never experienced the death of my wife under those circumstances, but don't you think that experience may have warped his mind. I'm not saying we should excuse what he did, but doesn't that at least help explain his actions???
and I notice everyone speaking on behalf of the girl,not knowing that she has publicly forgiven Polanski for this. I mean if she is cool with it, why aren't we?

[kitkatcam]

We do not need his kind back in our Country. He was a chicken who ran rather than be convicted. He also was married to Sharon Tate who was killed by Charles Manson while he was away...h-m-m-m. This guy should not get off just because he stayed away for so many years. Justice cannot work differently for the wealthy or famous than for the average person in America.

[Captain Howdy]

Consensual?! If I was the father of that little girl, he would not be able to find a big enough rock to hide under.

[Will Koper]

Why not let the woman decide? If she is able to forgive him, then we should be too.

[Richard Irving]

If Polanski comes back, let him know his table's ready at the "Poison" Ivy.

[kerry]

Polanski slipped quaaludes into a 13 year-olds drink and then had sex with her---there is no way in hell that's consensual dani.

Does anyone else find it ironic that the following message is posted on this site? The victim in this case was barely old enough to post on this website.

If you are under 13 years of age you may read this message board, but you may not participate.
Here are the full legal terms you agree to by using this comment form.

[Max Jackson]

Um, sorry, but all you people weren't there. You don't know the half of it other than it was under consent. Like where was her mother?

Yes, having sex with 13year-olds is wrong, they should be dating boys in school and not sleeping with 40-something famous directors.

I also think that having somebody's pregnant wife stabbed 30-something times and having the words "PIG" spread with her blood over her kitchen doorway is wrong too. Funny, nobody's pulling the celebrity card over that matter.

If somebody did this to your happy home (and he's been through other crap too), you might be less than well-adjusted.

It's not an excuse. But putting somebody in prison doesn't make them a better person, and that is something I'm dead right about. He's not a menace. Just unforgivably responsible and probably will need a good deal of therapy the rest of his natural life.

If he's truly a rapist child molester then dig me up some dirt on French girls because I doubt he'd have sex with somebody that young again.

[adam berner]

of course he should be set free, without further delay.

he is after all a respected member of the wealthy elite.

if gangsters and criminals of status receive hundreds of billions in rewards, or presidential appointments, why should this relatively small one have to face any form of justice.

[USofA]

This is a joke. Nothing will happen to him...he's a celebrity.

[Ruby Jackson]

Have him talk with Sarah Jane Olson.

[Al Bundy]

Rape does in fact have a statute of limitations, but that's not the issue in this case. Polanski's already a convicted felon in this country. He didn't appear for sentencing. He fled. In my opinion, if he comes back, he owes society some jail time.

[Susan Nunes]

The "girl" in question, now known as Samantha Geimer, may well be a grandmother by now since she is 44. She is willing to put the whole thing behind her. From Wikipedia: In a 2003 interview, Samantha Geimer said, "Straight up, what he did to me was wrong. But I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us." Furthermore, "I'm sure if he could go back, he wouldn't do it again. He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it".
In 2008, Geimer stated in an interview that she wishes Polanski would be forgiven, “I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society. I don't think he needs to be locked up forever and no one has ever come out ever - besides me - and accused him of anything. It was 30 years ago now. It's an unpleasant memory ... (but) I can live with it."

[danielle]

that is not rape: I'm not supporting what he did; personally, I think it's pretty sick. but consensual and fertility being factors is not "rape". yes, I know the laws as well. he shouldn't get away with all charges being dropped, and should probably have to serve time in jail for not only having sexual relations with a minor, but for fleeing prior to sentencing too. just another opinion.

dani

[w8n4dasun]

Uh WHERE WAS THE MOM???????? HELLO??? Who leaves their 13 year daughter alone at a photo shoot?????

[leslie]

He's still disgusting after all these years.

[KarinaKarina]

The girl he had sex with is now around 43 yrs. old, about the age he was then, where is she now and what does she have to say about this? and the mother? In Hollywood, CA especially back then men could still get away with being with a younger girl, who usually looked older and acted very mature. Often girls lied their ages and yes the sex was consenual, but laws are laws. "Jail Bait is always jail bait" known by all men, who date someone under 18 yrs. old. Mr. Polanski should just be grateful that he fled and leave it alone. If he's doing this for publicity for a new film, then well yes, he' s gotten it! Otherwise he's still liable and he said he did have sex with her, a minor and against the law.

[Apres Ski]

He'll get off because he's a celebrity/director. Why wasn't he in jail? Because he has money, power, connections, & access. So far, they haven't done him any good because he hasn't found the right connections to pay off.
Maybe this time he will . . .

Even though the girl is over 18 now, recants her testimony, he's still ran. He'll only get off, if his attorney can find all the right people. And I'm wondering if Polanski wants back in the states to make movies because he can get his bank account nice & fat? Money talks . . . and we know what walks . . .

[Paul]

What's worse is all the Hollywood stars who have agreed to work for Polanski in his exile. Hey, it's a Polanski film, ya know, he did Chinatown, who cares if he's a pedophile rapist! These include Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford, Adrian Brody and a bunch of other people who should have known better. Even though the victim has long since moved on with her life, Polanski deserves nothing besides shame and scorn. This crime was not Polanski's debut as a rapist, either. He's filth.

[Always Wondering]

Just another example of American double standard. If you are white and rich you get a free pass. A 13 year old child can not give consent to sex, it is rape!!! Just think if they let him back maybe he will team up with Woody Allen and make a community service message on parenting skills

Why haven't we heard the outrage and cry that followed the Michael Jackson and OJ affairs.

[Ken P.]

How about stepping up and taking responsibility for what you did, Mr. Polanski. Maybe you and OJ could share an apartment.

[rms]

And what does the young lady (now an adult) have to say?

[Jena]

No thanks. Lets forget this "start power" thing LA usually bestows on celebrities.

Anyway, his movies are now criminally bad. Shouldn't that count for something? :)

[IRAVANI]

I remember this case as a young girl growing up. It is funny to me that Michael Jackson was arrested and charged with child molestation. He pleaded not guilty, and endured through a painfully emotional trial, and was accquited of all charges. Yet, in the court of the media and public, he is guilty. Polanski pleaded guilty and like a coward, fled his accusers. Now, thirty years later, he feels that enough time gone by that people have forgotten his crime(I'm sure the girl hasn't), wants charges dropped. I don't think he should have this request granted. Be a man, and stand trial and let the truth set you free, not the lies you may have come up with over these past thirty years! Thank you.

[Dave]

Will the courts in California allow him file a motioni to dismiss while he is still a fugitiive? In most jurisdictions the fugitive disentitlement doctrine generally does not allow this. You either fight your case in court or run away, but you can't run away so the court can't get you and and still avail yourself of the court's jusrisdiction to attack the prosecution's case.

[Tom]

It would be of great importance to know how the 13 year-old girl's life was impacted by this. She is now a 43 year-old woman who no doubt pays for his crime every day of her life.

[Alan Shore]

30 years of not being in the US is enough punishment. Imagine, 30 years of not being able to go to Disneyland or Pink's Hot Dogs!

[Doug]

Well, had he served his sentence, he may well be entitled to a dismissal, but to cowardly flee the country merely to avoid sentencing, wait 30 years, and then cry foul is unacceptable. Now, if he wants to come back, take his chances and appear in person, then maybe an argument could be made for dismissal. You can't have it both ways, Roman . . .

[R]

Is that Wilt Chamberlain in the background?

[Dan]

Sorry Mr. Polanski. You should not received special consideration. There is no such thing as "consensual" sex with a 13-year-old. To blame misconduct of others is further reason to not drop any charges. After all, whose misconduct is really at issue here?

[tucanofulano]

Polanski fled after conviction prior to sentencing (why was he not put in jail pending sentencing???).
His "excuse" that sex was "consensual" was nonsense then as it is now; a 13 year old under the influence of alcohol and drugs administered by her rapist never had the "right" to consent, even if stone cold sober, because she was below the "age of consent", e.g. a child. His "excuse" might fly had he been the same age as the child at the time, but he sure wasn't even close.Jail the sob the instant he touches American soil or arrange to grab him should he step off French soil.

[l.M. R]

Why on earth should the charges be dropped. He drugged a 13yr old child and then raped her. He fled the country to avoid serving an agreed upon plea agreement. The fact that he is famous does not erase his crime against a child.
He should be charged with fleeing prosecution as well.
Throw the book at him, or let him rot in France.

[Robert Laughing]

He should call Marc Rich and Slick Willie Clinton; they KNOW about these things.

[A friend of the unvoiced]

Rape doesn't have an expiration date.