Polanski offers larger cash deposit to Swiss in bail deal

 An attorney for Roman Polanski has offered Swiss justice officials a "very, very significant" amount of cash as a higher deposit in a proposed bail deal for the director, but the government has rejected the offer, news reports said.

It marks the third time the Swiss have rejected Polanski's attempts at bail.

Polanski was arrested in Zurich and faces extradition to the United States for sentencing in a sexual-assault case involving a 13-year-old girl. Polanski fled to Europe just before sentencing in that case more than 30 years ago.

Herve Temime, a lawyer for Polanski, told reporters that he felt the new cash offer -- he would not reveal the exact sum -- should be adequate to convince Swiss officials that the 76-year-old director would not flee. But Bloomberg News quoted Swiss justice official Folco Galli as rejecting the latest offer, saying the "risk of flight remains high."

-- Shelby Grad

Photo: Director Roman Polanksi. Credit: Los Angeles Times archives.

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Comments

[Rocco]

Free Roman. Free Samantha.

[sancho-2]

nice try ha ha . . . welcome to the 21st century now adays only big finacial mogals can get aways with the unspeakable.

[Paula O'Reilly-Green]

What stunning arrogance!! Not to mention the utter tone-deafness of it all. It's like a weird self-destructiveness, as if RP is seeking to inflame public opinion against himself!

[Lulu]

Drugging and sodomizing a prepubescent child, then fleeing a relatively lenient sentence is very very significant too...

[pf]

Wow, now he's trying to bribe his way out? Just when I thought already a pathetic piece of crap...

[Kevin Johnson]

Why does L.A. care about this this guy? Waste of time and money - why not make a little more effort keeping scary criminals behind bars instead of letting them out because of a shortage of bed.

[Kevin Johnson]

Why does L.A. care about this this guy? Waste of time and money - why not make a little more effort keeping scary criminals behind bars instead of letting them out because of a shortage of bed.

[pasadena jag]

Polanski - the poster boy for American Justice! Give me a break. How this dreadful little man is not on his way back to the USA to serve his time for buggering a 13 year old girl and is defended by the slimy Hollywood left? --- shows the direction this country is headed. The USA is over!

[sw]

Roman Polanski is a coward. He did the crime, refused to do the time and fled. Now that it has caught up to him, he is trying to buy his way out. Good for the Swiss. He is a flight risk. Always has been, always will.

[michelle]

Only a complete idiot would let a fugitive out on bail. It is good to know that the Swiss officials dealing with this case have some sense. Clearly those defending Polanski have none!

[El Guapo de la cuidad de los angeles]

"I really,really promise I won't skip bail." Roman Polanski

[missoula]

The Swiss are right to refuse him bail, because the French are so greedy: decades of negotiations with France were not enough to bring Polanski back to America, just as decades were not enough to bring the perpetrators of Britain's "Great Train Robbery" back to Britain. To this day several of the robbers are living like kings in the south of France, spending their ill-gotten loot on champagne and pate'. So it is quite reasonable to assume that upon returning to his home in France, Polanski would be immune from prosecution and be sipping the bubbly while thumbing his nose at the justice systems of two countries at the same time. Switzerland may be a haven for tax evaders, but France is a haven for rich criminals of any kind.

[Richard Ivey]

And the witchhunt goes on!

[megan]

And rape is a very very significant offense. And fleeing sentencing is a very very significant act of stupid. Sorry your money can't buy you out of it Roman.

[silent bob's friend bob]

Who are we kidding?

The Swiss alerted the US to Polanski's plans and then arrested him in a pitiful attempt to curry favor with the US in the aftermath of overwhelming US pressure with respect to Swiss secret banking accounts.

There isn't enough gold on the planet (well, at least not in Polanski's pockets) to persuade them he isn't a flight risk. They will hold him in lockup until he is handed over to the US.

Period.

[Tom]

Witchhunt?

[JuJu]

I'm so glad the Swiss are denying his offer. Why should he get special treatment. This man is a pedophile and should be treated like one and be locked behind bars.

[twitter.com/cavscout90]

@missourla...How right you are! France always thumbs its nose at the rest of western civilization. Many members of terrorist organizations, as well as, wanted terrorists live in exile in France. ie. Red Brigade, Fascists from Italy's anni di pombo, PLO, etc...Roman is just a small lint aon France's lap of luxury for the world's criminals.

Viva La France!! ROFL

[Dirk]

If we've learned ANYTHING, Polanski doesn't take bail seriously.

[Chuck]

Hey, maybe it is a witchhunt, but at least this time they really found a witch and THEY AREN'T GOING TO LET HIM GO.

Nahh, the fact is Roman got caught in something bigger than his own ego. Hard to believe, but true. The Swiss need to rebuild their good image (tax evasion, stolen ww2 money, lax on foreign criminals) more than they need to protect him.

If he has anything significant to say, let him say it in a US court. If he ever gets out, he can make a movie about the whole terrible experience.

[Lupe]

when is bush and cheney going to jail?

[BaDaBing]

WHAT STUNNING ARROGANCE ON THE PART OF THE SWISS TO REFUSE ROMAN'S MONEY. AT LEAST IT WAS EARNED THE OLD FASHIONED WAY. THE NAZI-LOVING SWISS HAD NO PROBLEM AT ALL TAKING MONEY FROM THE CRIMINAL NAZIS, LAUNDERING THE STUFF FOR THE COLOMBIAN CARTELS, ETC. IF THIS WASN'T A FRONT PAGE STORY (AND A TIRED ONE AT THAT), THE SWISS WOULD BE CLAWING EACH OTHER TO GET TO THE DOUGH. THE SWISS TAKING THE MORAL HIGH GROUND IS A BAD JOKE...

[kyarukirai]

What a scumbag. A typical rich person who thinks he can buy his way out of anything.

[Bob in Santa Monica]

Just a week ago the Joe Mozingo article in this paper ended by saying: "Polanski remains in custody fighting his extradition. His attorneys said he will go bankrupt if he is held much longer." And yet he keeps offering more and more money to the Swiss to let him out of jail?

This criminal is plenty scary enough for me to want to see the DA stay up at night working to put him in prison. No amount of expense is too great to put that devious, smirking child rapist behind bars, hopefully for the rest of his life. Whoever doesn't think Polanski is a "scary criminal" plainly isn't a parent, or at least they shouldn't be.

[Can't buy justice!]

The fact that Polanski thought he could pay his way out and think one of the richest countries in the world would go for a "cash offer" is a joke! Like the Swiss really want to infuriate the American people. They are a neutral country. What did Polanski think they were going to do?

[Yirmin Snipe]

Only the clueless celebrities of "La La Land" could think its a "witch hunt". For you clueless celebrities, a witch hunt happens when a person is sought and/or persecuted using extreme measures with little regard to the persons guilt or innocence.... that isn't the case here. 1. No extreme measures were used beyond waiting until the "admitted pedophile" that has already plead guilty to raping a child went to a country that would extradite him to the US. 2. He is guilty. Not because I believe it or you believe it but because he said he was when he told the courts he was guilty and accepted the verdict of guilty.

Now the sad thing is that he will be brought back to the US and not put into the general population. If he was put in the general population, maybe he would learn the pain and terror of being raped... but no he will simply sit out like a quiet time in the corner of a prison which isn't nearly the punishment that he deserves.

[Boraxo]

Nice to see that even in Switzerland money cannot buy your freedom from a brutal rape charge.

Can't wait til they transfer him to Folsom where he'll be quite popular I'm sure.

Was this guy ever featured on America's Most Wanted?

[Scott H]

Based on comments Polanski has made to the press, he wants to be able to return to Hollywood to make films. That is probably why he tried to get the case dismissed. But when all is said and done, he is not a US citizen and will most likely be denied a Visa to enter the US. That is why he originally fled. He was willing to do the remaining 48 days, but objected to the "voluntary deportation" part of the sentence. His other option was to take his chances with the court system and would have most likely received a longer prison term. But no matter how the criminal case plays out, RP will never see the Hollywood movie studios that he so badly desires to be a part of again.

[123xyz]

"very, very significant" sound like a bribe. Like the very very large donation UCLA Medical Center got for the Japanese mob's new livers.

[El Guapo de la cuidad de los angeles]

Free Garrido! Free "The Richmond High Twenty"!

[Nathan]

Witch hunt? Seriously? Please explain that one.

[Robert Papac]

He's ran before and he'll do it again.

[Don Heckers]

Most people still don't know that Roman Polanski can get
TWO YEARS in prison , and no more than that.
And because some important people who should have been
involved in the trial are dead , it looks like Roman Po-
lanski is not going to jail at all.
Without the right people (who know what REALLY HAPPENED in
1977) there is just no case.
And California (who is BANKRUPT) has NO MONEY to work this
case to an end , that's another big problem.
And the victim doesn't want this trial.
And finally , there might be ten million people who hate
Roman Polanski , but there are more than hundred million
people who love him dearly.
So if you don't like what's going on then GET A LIFE OR
COMMIT SUICIDE , because your dream that Polanski gets a
hard time in prison is not becoming a reality.

[michelle]

Bail for a man that fled before being sentenced. Wow! Now there's a thought! Should we serve him breakfast in bed and lick his feet too while we are at it.

[patricia]

Dear Whoopi Goldberg & Debra Winger.....yes, it WAS "rape-rape."

[Andy]

Bribery.

[hates child rapist]

Hey Don Heckers you forgot about the sentence he will get for being a fugitive of the law they gonna throw the book at him and give him 20 years on just that .