Comments on: Mondays Are The Worst Days

By: Elena

Elena — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:03:53 +0000

JD Regent- what you are saying soinds legalish but makes no sense. Judges don’t have to abide by any plea bargain because plea bargains are between prosecutors and the defense. Judged always have discretion to sentence whatever they like, although sometimes the defendant has the option of withdrawing the guilty plea if suddenly there are indications that the sentence will be harsher than expected. I don’t know if Polanski could have done that, but I do know he knew about judicial discretion because I read a portion of the plea transcript somewhere and he answered yes when the judge asked him more than once if he understood that the judge is not bound by the agreement. In any case, he bail jumped and that would affect the sentence, or nullify the agreement anyway. Plus, it’s a whole separate crime.

By: veggiewood

veggiewood — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 03:38:04 +0000

sidebar – women in switzerland did not get the right to vote until 1971.

By: J.D.Regent

J.D.Regent — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:00:56 +0000

Oh bluebears sorry I misread what you are asking! Sorry to go into exhaustive detail over things everybody understands. I don’t really understand what exact documents they were requesting either. However I will say I have found the US (and other countries requesting extradition) pretty beligerent in terms of refusing to give basic case details to defense.

By: J.D.Regent

J.D.Regent — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:25:06 +0000

Bluebears, from what I understand (all from garbled media reports of dubious reliability), Polanski argued that under his plea agreement,(by judge or prosecutor, I don’t know)his 42 days in a secure psychiatric unit would complete his sentence and he would only be given probation, if anything. When the prosecutor dropped his end of the bargain, Polanski fled. The Swiss were asking for documentation about how the decision was made to change the sentence after the guilty plea, and the US refused to provide it. I find that European jurisdictions are extremely critical and suspicious of US plea bargaining arrangements from the get go, and since Polanski relied upon a belief that he would serve no jail time when he pled, I reckon the Swiss would argue that the sentence they are trying to impose now is arbitrary and not lawful, and therefore they won’t facilitate its enforcement.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:48:56 +0000

@JD: It’s been a long time since my PIL classes and in any event never thought much about extradition except to rage at U.S. v. Alvarez-Machain. So you’re the expert.

@all: I think it’s fair to say that there are a lot of complicating factors in the legal tangle here, including prosecutorial misconduct. I do not really think that the presence of some potential prosecutorial misconduct is a reason to refuse extradition assuming that, all other things being equal, the legal system in the requesting country protects the accused’s substantive/procedural rights to the same degree.

As for the victim, I think saying she doesn’t want to prosecute is also a poor reason for arguing for his release in this instance. I’m not surprised she doesn’t: when they arrested him the public debate was, again, immediately, “Well, she was kinda slutty and why didn’t she run and scream and…” But then the damage has been done on that score. And it looks like the fight if he came back would be less about the facts of the crime and more about the conduct of the trial. So.

I mean, obviously no one wants to go against the victim’s wishes. Though I think there’s some conflicting reports there, because I did see someone who I can’t find now quote her as saying she thinks he should come back and face things.

By: bluebears

bluebears — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:30:32 +0000

But JD I don’t understand what documents existed regarding ex parte communications? Like was it in the trial transcripts of the case? Or the prosecutors case file?

By: J.D.Regent

J.D.Regent — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:21:11 +0000

Noticed this article from the Indie where a Swiss national pulls the old Nazi sympathizer card!

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-so-thats-ok-then-its-fine-to-abuse-young-girls-as-long-as-youre-a-great-film-director-2025067.html

I do think this is a case where politics and the high profile of the case worked in a rapist’s favor. If only courts were so sympathetic to my regular old clients facing extradition in far more shocking circumstances.

By: J.D.Regent

J.D.Regent — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:58:02 +0000

And Michelle, I know before I was talking about passage of time, but actually I was thinking about it more and I think it is not that compelling a reason in this case where he was already sentenced and they just want him to serve time. We use passage of time arguments in cases where the trial hasn’t happened yet because it is really hard to collect and confront evidence after 30 years and the chances of a fair trial after all that time are slim. However I am going to research its use in cases where extradition is for serving a sentence already passed, because I am a nerd like that!

By: J.D.Regent

J.D.Regent — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:40:06 +0000

Documents relating to the ex parte discussions between judge and prosecutor are EXACTLY what the Swiss requested of the US. And I think it was legitimate of the Swiss to request them (surely on the motion of Polanski’s legal team). There is usually a ton of leeway and as Michelle says politics in extradition cases, and the Swiss could have decided to just respect the US decision and not request supporting documents, but it is also legitimate of them to request the documents to clarify what punishment would actually come down on Polanski after extradition and to see if his rights were violated by the prosecutorial misconduct in the case. I believe it is correct to blame this one on the LA judge and prosecutor fucking up the case. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Polanski is so high profile and the misconduct was the subject of a documentary. But having handled many extradition cases, it is my experience that the Swiss in general block and limit extradition requests (to all kinds of countries, not just the USA) more often than most nations.

By: Feminizzle

Feminizzle — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:30:55 +0000

This whole case is just disgusting to me. People have really stopped caring about this and just want to put it behind them. I was so frustrated with my boyfriend when we discussed this last night. He was saying that even the victim was dropping charges and didn’t want to pursue the case, so why should anyone else? In what I’ve seen and read, a lot of raped and abused women *don’t* go through the whole trial (or even press charges) because it’s just too painful. And to ask that woman to continue, after over 20 years, to recount her rape is too much. I doubt she wants to always be known as the 13 year-old rape victim (or, on the other end, the slut who was asking for it, the Lolita who seduced who a rich person for profit, etc.) It just makes me sick to think that people get away with this, and worse. But particularly when that person is in the spot light and should be easy to find and bring to trial. I keep losing faith in humanity.