Is Latham a good firm?

Isn't there a statute of limitations on this?

I think raping a 13 year old girl is worthy of prosecuting. I am shocked that people want to let this one go. I am further shocked that the guy is receiving awards all over the place and won the oscar in 2003. The guy is a scoff law and should go to jail.

3 - He was already convicted.

3 - And it would probably be tolled while he was a fugitive?

I'm also surprised he's the recipient of lifetime achievement awards, Oscars, etc. I wonder if the Hollywood set would be equally as comfortable around Phillip Garrido.

PE, good news regarding Rick's Cabaret.

http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7545894&action=article

Not only does Patrick Goldstein think it's a waste of time and money to pursue a pedophile rapist - in his article, he compares the rape prosecution of Polanski by American law enforcement officials to the persecution Polanski suffered as a Jewish child fleeing the Nazis. Goldstein is a moron.

You know what happens to nosy fellows, eh?

I cut it off, feed it to my goldfish.

Wasn't he the one whose wife/lover was killed by Charles Manson? If so, maybe the whole thing screwed up his head. Not that it makes it right.....

3

yeah he was already convicted he's just fleeing the sentence

and besides, there is no real SoL for most CRIMINAL prosecutions (especially heinous ones, like rape, murder, &c.)....

It's pretty embarrassing to Western civilized society that a man who is convicted of anally raping a 13-year old and then runs from his sentence can receive this amount of defenders.

Guys at my high school used to have sex with 13 year-olds all the time. It was no big deal.

He fled because the judge, as far as I know without explanation, rejected the plea deal of time served that he struck with the prosecuting DA—and which was agreed to by the victim. If he'd had any inclination that the judge would reject the plea deal, he never would have pleaded in the first place.

This comment is addressed to post no. 8.

I wish you wouldn't advertise how well Rick's Cabaret International is doing. I am trying to buy as many shares as possible so that I can have input on the board. I for one, would like the cabaret dancers to wear edible areola tassels.

This post totally misses the point. People think Polanski should be let go because of how the case was handled in the US. His actions were wrong, and he should have been punished, but it was a total miscarriage of justice... The judge was a nut.

See the film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired...
(http://theenvelope.latimes.com/movies/filmfestivals/sundance2008/env-et-polanski17jan17,0,4818835.story)

So far the polling is going very strongly AGAINST Polanski.

This post is addressed to Commenter #1:

Good show.

Regarding Polanski: the idea that a rapist should receive clemency because it "just happened" and is "pretty darn old" is symptomatic of the liberal humanitarian movement which advocates for criminals to be allowed to gallivant our streets, raping and pillaging our children. All criminals, and especially rapists, should be chucked into the stockade indefinitely.

"The crime is pretty darn old — from 32 years ago. Isn’t it time to give it a rest?"

Totally. It had only been 15 years when they caught Adolf Eichmann in Argentina -- but 32 is a lot longer!

"His victim takes a fairly forgiving attitude towards Polanski."

Then she can forgo a civil lawsuit. (Also, lots of victims of domestic abuse "forgive" their abuser -- so I guess we shouldn't prosecute those, either.)

"Polanski claims that 'there was no premeditation and that 'it was something that just happened.'"

I "just happened" to swipe a twenty-dollar bill off my co-worker's desk. So it's not theft!

"Doesn’t the government have better things to do?"

Than enforce laws?

"Questions have been raised regarding the propriety of the original prosecution."

If only there were means in the legal system to challenge the propriety of the prosecution -- aside from direct appeals, two additional layers of habeas challenges (state and federal), and requests for executive clemency or commutation.

But no, seriously, he should get to stay in France and eat wine and cheese and make movies.

There are proper procedural devices to seek review of a "miscarriage of justice." Fleeing the jurisdiction is not one of them.

Polanski is the deadbeat dad of the social contract, making millions of selling his crap movies but is too good to go to jail for 48 days.

17, you have been crushed by 20.

He did the crime, time to do the time. He should man up, not French down.

Anybody notice how the DOJ was really upset with Switzerland a few weeks back about the whole UBS thing and now Switzerland arrests Polanski. Coincidence?

15,

Who cares? It is a universal fact of the law in the United States that judges hold the ultimate discretion on sentencing. Any defense attorney that either doesn't know that or doesn't warn his/her client should be disbarred. Unless you are in a jurisdiction which permits defendants to withdraw their plea should the judge divert from the deal (some jurisdictions permit this so you can roll the dice with the jury), you're at the judge's mercy. You plead guilty, you take your chances. Granted, most judges stick to deals because it severely damages the plea bargaining system every time they don't, but they don't have to do so.

He did get screwed by the Judge. I agree. I think he probably had grounds to withdraw his plea and face trial. He did not do so. He became a fugitive instead. He most probably was screwed up in the head when Manson followers killed his 8 1/2 month pregnant wife a year or so earlier. To me, that would be a factor to consider during sentencing not a reason to just let him evade the judicial process for 32 years while collecting Oscars and lifetime achievement awards.

"Anybody notice how the DOJ was really upset with Switzerland a few weeks back about the whole UBS thing and now Switzerland arrests Polanski. Coincidence?"

Probably yes. Kind of strange, non-sequiturish way for Switzerland to make nice with the US on an issue of corporate taxation.

But even if there's a connection, what of it? Because Switzerland arrests him solely to play nice with the US, a guy shouldn't be tried for drugging and anally raping a 13-year-old?

I'm not following.

if he was convicted of anal raping a 13 year old boy, do you think that there would be a different attitude towards him?

Sharon Tate was much hotter than Kash.

In the absence of DOJ Secure, let it be said:

We should bomb Roman Polanski back to the stoneage.

You don't get to flee the country just because a sentencing judge declines to go along with a plea bargain. There are appellate courts to review those decisions.

The only reason this has "dragged on" so long, is that Polanski chose to become a fugitive.

No self-respecting film director would ever have sex with a teenage girl.

Wood-Yi Allen

One the one hand, such crimes should be punished no matter what.

On the other hand, considering the expense necessary to follow through, I think there's a better use for the money.

Misallocation of scarce governmental resources. Statutory rape is not an enforcement priority.

"He most probably was screwed up in the head when Manson followers killed his 8 1/2 month pregnant wife a year or so earlier."

Uh, folks, the Manson murders and the anally-raping-a-thirteen-year-old incident were EIGHT YEARS APART.

Just getting our facts straight here.

Back when I was fratting it up in Ithaca, I used to take advantage of DGs and Kappas all the time. Then I would flee, it was no big deal.

CORNELL FRAT STUD

36. Good point. I thought the proximity of those events was closer. Would still screw yourself up in the old head though.

I think he should be held responsible. I'd also be interested to break down the poll by male and female, simply to see whether more men are willing to give him leniency than women (that might not be the case, I'm just curious). Either way, the girl was 13 and he was a man. It's not only wrong, but cruel. An act that could seriously damage that poor girl for the rest of her life. I know in this case, the victim turned out okay (I think), but we shouldn't set precedent that this kind of action is okay.

"considering the expense necessary to follow through, I think there's a better use for the money."

Agree. Also agree that given massive federal government deficits, DOJ should stop enforcing civil rights and environmental crimes. Screw the deterrent effect on others -- there are better uses for the money!

He was 44, she was 13, and he used champagne and a sedative to have non--consensual sex with her. After pleading guilty, he fled the country and remained, for 32+ years, in jurisdictions that would not extradite him.

Yeah, I think he should be brought back here. (I also think he's an idiot for living in a self-impose prison for 32-years, when this whole thing could have been long behind him for the better part of two decades by this point.)

10 - Chinatown ftw. . . nosy kitty. . .

Mystal once Polanskied a chocolate eclair in college.

I do not buy the deterrence argument one bit -- how many child rapists are deterred by the prison sentences and social stigma attached to others?

Maybe the Swiss can just arrange for him to be raped in a prison there and then we can all feel vindicated and move on.

He raped and sodomized a thirteen-year-old with the aid of drugs. String him up.

Maybe Polanski should consult ACORN and its former attorney Barack Hussain Obama on how to escape liability for raping a 13 year old girl.

As long as he paid the girl's family a market leading settlement, he should be praised for sound legal management. Polanski bashers should focus on all the men who intoxicate and rape young victims without paying market leading settlements.

-V17 apologist

Nobody should be able to get away with fleeing justice. Even a minor speeding ticket, if the judge bangs the gavel and says pay-up, you have to pay up. Ignoring the ruling is a crime more serious than the speeding ticket.

Regardless of the time since the crime or the victim's desires, the fact of the matter is that he fled and he should be punished for doing so. If he is not, why have verdicts in the first place ?

i think he not only raped her, but opted to poke her in the two-hole. he should be punished.

too bad stupidity isn't a crime.

If a 44 year old man used champagne and a sedative to have non--consensual sex with YOUR 13 y/o daighter - oral sex, intyercourse and sodomy, pled gulty, and fled the country, what would you want the State opf California to do? Damn right, bring him back for sentencing. No sttaute of limitations for a fugitive from justce.

After the homeys inthe California penal systme are done with his sorry ass, send him back to France.

Have a nice stay in jail, mo**er f***er.

her. After pleading guilty, he fled the country and remained, for 32+ years, in jurisdictions that would not extradite him.

35 - although what Polanski did was technically statutory rape, it was also just plain, old RAPE. Non-consentual. He f**ked a 13-year-old girl in the @$$ (without her permission!), and you think it is not an enforcement priority. Awesome.

I hope you choke to death on a smelly penis.

RAPE A CHILD, GO TO JAIL.

It's pretty simple, actually.

I don't know about what he "deserves" or whether he has "suffered enough," or whatever other emotional factors so many conversations about Polanski in the last couple of days have turned on, but I do believe this arrest is a clear victory for the rule of law. Let our process work it out.

have the french ever been right, even once?

utterly ridiculous that anyone would even think of taking polanski's side in all this. he drugged and raped a thirteen year old child, somehow convinced a DA that a sweetheart 40-day psychiatric evaluation period was enough time served, and when the judge said bullshit, he fled the country. for 32 years, he's been a fugitive because he drugged and raped a 13 year old child.

"miscarriage of justice"? appeal the case. we have procedural and constitutional safeguards in this country, and a guy with polanski's resources could've hired the best lawyers out there to exploit them. but he didn't -- he went on the lam, and now he's caught. the fact that france and poland refused to extradite him for decades doesn't mean he's past punishment for his crime, it just means that 32 years later, he still hasn't served his mandated punishment for DRUGGING AND RAPING A 13 YEAR OLD CHILD.

I think anal rape is wrong. Thus, I want him to go to jail, but I hope that nobody anally rapes him while he is there.

This is a much better thread than usual -- I think I've changed my mind on this issue.

"Self-imposed prison" 41? Seriously? I'd be happy to go to the kind of prison that allowed me to make a comfortable living and jet around Europe collecting accolades and awards. Prison is where you can't get away while someone jackhammers your cornhole, you know, like he did to that 13 year old girl.

Put the son of a bitch in jail. It's never to late for someone to serve their conviction.

Wow, his plea deal was time served: a whole 42 days in state prison undergoing a 90-day psychiatric sentence. How much you reckon he paid for that!? No wonder the judge wouldn't accept it. That would have been a disgrace. 42-days for drugging and repeatedly raping a 13 year-old girl. At some point you've got to draw the line between the wishes of the victim and society's need to punish and, no matter where that line is, this is WAY beyond it. Then he runs when he doesn't get it and lives the rest of his life making a lot of money being celebrated by the film industry! I can't believe people genuinely feel this shouldn't catch up to him.

54 ; have the french ever been right, even once?

If capital punishment is at stake in the matter (and I don't know that), the French Government is prevented from extraditing a person to the US in application of any convention since it goes against the European Convention of Human Rights, enforced by the Court of the same name ... It is considered an inhuman treatment (especially the part where you wait for 20 years to be executed)

The only way to go through the ECHR is for the US govt to secure an agreement in which the prosecution comits itself not ot ask for the death of the prisonner ... But since the guarantee that the prisonner won't be sentenced to death is difficult if not impossible to deliver, these kind of agreements rarely occur.

Sorry for the shaky English ;-)

60, he can't get a death sentence for this.

Jesus Christ people!! Have any of you even seen CHINATOWN?? Let the man go, he is a genius.

#60- who enters into a plea agreement with a promised sentence of the death penalty? As for the "shaky English," apology not accepted.

Raping and sodomizing a thirteen-year old whom he had drugged. Pleading guilty. Fleeing the jurisdiction for decades to avoid doing time for exactly this crime. Slam dunk.

Who cares that the victim is forgiving? This is society's interest that's being executed, not the victim's. This is to prevent the drugging and rape of teenagers generally because there is a punishment for the perverts who do so.

In advance, I would like to thank the media and Hollywood establishment for supporting us in our handling of decades old, underage sex crimes.

-The Catholic Church

In advance, I would like to thank the media and Hollywood establishment for supporting us in our handling of decades old, underage sex crimes.

-The Catholic Church

Guys in my parish raped thirteen-year-olds in the 1970s all the time, it was no big deal.

FATHER STUD

Post several times for enhanced hilarity.

60 - You are a fucking idiot in any language. He took a plea and it's not a murder, and you think it could be a capital case?

#60
You missed the point ... the required plea agreement would consist for the prosecution in NOT asking for the death sentence (or life without parole since it can be considered the same by the ECHR).

Polanski is a total PERV.

Polanski is a total perv.
It's too bad that the Manson Family missed their shot at him.

Polanski is a total perv.
It's too bad that the Manson Family missed their shot at him.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people daily plea guilty believing that their plea agreements will be followed by the courts. Sometimes the courts do not follow them. But because this guy made a few movies, well, those circumstances should not apply to him.

If he were Father Polanski, nobody would question the extradition, and boycotts of the movie industry would ensue.

I have to say my faith in the ATL bunch has been restored. Normally we're pretty brutal and opinions usually vary widely even if some people do just for ha ha's, however, I'm glad to see that we all still believe in bring scumbags to justice.

He's a tiny little man who raped a child. He's going to have fun in American prison. Any sentence in an American jail will amount to a death sentence for this puny little fool.

Good riddance.

46, I think Blackwater, what with the rape and muder of Iraqi civilians, would be much more efficient than ACORN. What are the connections again between Blackwater and the Bush Aministration? (BTW, you're stupid for politicizing this.)

46, I think Blackwater, what with the rape and muder of Iraqi civilians, would be much more efficient than ACORN. What are the connections again between Blackwater and the Bush Aministration? (BTW, you're stupid for politicizing this.)

Polanski slipped her two qualudes then drilled her then turned her over and Lathamed her. He deserves jail.

At last, someone answered my question! Thanks, 79!

- 2

46: Maybe you should consult a psychiatrist

Idiot:

You've missed the main connection this BigLaw Blog has with this stupid case: Manatt Phelps is representing this asshole Polanski.

Phillip Garrido's biggest mistake was not moving to France.

Wow, I just read the GJ testimony of the victim: Disgusting. While he was raping her, he asked if she was on the pill. When she said no, he asked when she had last had her period. When she said a couple of weeks, he switched to sodomizing her so he could come in her ass.

And that stuff about not knowing she was a minor: BS. Shortly before the raping in earnest starts, he actually talks to the girls mother on the phone to reassure her that everything's all right but that they'll be home a little late.

I wholeheartedly agree with 75.

France sucks.

I think molesting children is considered "artistic" over there.

also agree with 75, but what the f*ck is with the 25% that want to let this guy go? does this mean that 25% of all ATL readers r into child rape and sodomy? on second thought, that sounds about right. bunch of sick f*cks.

I may not be speaking for everyone on the "sick f*ck" 25% list, but I personally think the man deserves a lengthy prison term for...well, we have enough description above on what he did.

But that's not the point. Polansky pled guilty to an offense before what he thought was an impartial judge. It turns out the judge was improperly receiving information from another district attorney. Under our constitutional system, that's structural error. Period. It doesn't matter if the defendant is a petty thief or a child molestor. It's hard to stand up for our Constitution when sick bastards like Polansky are the beneficiaries, but that's precisely why those rights are there.

Charge him again, lock him up once he's convicted (or pleads guilty again), and make him serve a prison term that non-celebrities get to serve--none of this 70-day BS like in round 1.

that may well be a structural error, but we have a built-in correction: the appeal. it can't possibly be the case that any time a criminal thinks he might get an "unfairly" harsh sentence, he can skip the country.

best-case scenario for him: the appellate courts grant him a new trial. i doubt he'll be pleased with the way that trial will turn out, since he's already admitted to diane sawyer that he did the deed, but it'll be a nice little diversion for him to sit in the courtroom by day as he serves out his sentence for fleeing the jurisdiction in the first place.

Bring that sick fucker back for justice. He's lucky it wasn't my daughter because I would have hunted his ass down in France and then fled to a non-extraditing country myself.

ya if he did that to anyone i knew i would have sent "the dawg" to go get him and bring him back to the US

He raped a 13 year old girl! He should be thrown in general pop and get a a nice hot cup OF JACK-SQUAT from Bubba... To whose of you who say "oh but it's 32 years old" and "ohh he's such a good director..." Well, la-dee-FRICKIN-da!

We're talking about the French here. They think it's a-okay that Gerard Depardieu brags about his date rape history.

The travesty here is that we have not demanded that the French yield him up and ratcheted up all means of diplomatic pressure (not just the polite ones) to see justice served.

I second the suggestion to see the film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired...
(http://theenvelope.latimes.com/movies/filmfestivals/sundance2008/env-et-polanski17jan17,0,4818835.story)

If that documentary is to be believed, and I think it was very credible, the whole case was corrupt - particularly the scumbag judge - and Polanski fled because he was being railroaded and lied to and knew he couldn't get real justice - he was willing to plead guilty and take the punishment THE JUDGE AGREED TO - but the judge reneged and was posing and posturing to get celebrity attention and use Polanski's celebrity - I am not defending his actions but the man has had a LOT of terrible things in his life and has contributed a LOT to the world - and even the "victim" is done with his "crime"

Enough is enough. Let's all get a life and leave the man alone

I second the suggestion to see the film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired...
(http://theenvelope.latimes.com/movies/filmfestivals/sundance2008/env-et-polanski17jan17,0,4818835.story)

If that documentary is to be believed, and I think it was very credible, the whole case was corrupt - particularly the scumbag judge - and Polanski fled because he was being railroaded and lied to and knew he couldn't get real justice - he was willing to plead guilty and take the punishment THE JUDGE AGREED TO - but the judge reneged and was posing and posturing to get celebrity attention and use Polanski's celebrity - I am not defending his actions but the man has had a LOT of terrible things in his life and has contributed a LOT to the world - and even the "victim" is done with his "crime"

Enough is enough. Let's all get a life and leave the man alone

Send him to prison and let all the Bubbas in his wing have at him every day until the little scumbag dies.

94/95: You can join him if you like. "Leave the man alone," my ass.

What's really disgusting is how he got an Academy award and other accolades over all these years. He should never have been allowed to continue his career. And it's not like it was an isolated event-after fleeing the U.S., he began an affair with Natasha Kinski--who was then 15. Maybe he thought he'd f&ck her because she was German. What a sick POS he is.

Agreed 97 - shows how truly warped and out of touch our commie Hollywood types are. 95 et al, let's see how you feel after Michael Moore drugs and rapes YOUR child.

29 - without a doubt.

Those of you supporting this guy, imagine that his name is Father Polanski ... or Mark Foley ... or Larry Craig. Reasons for supporting this guy completely elude me. He could have appealed and didn't.

Did this article seriously argue against prosecuting a child rapist by saying that he claims "it just happened?" That is insane. HE RAPED A 13 YEAR-OLD. This is not even remotely controversial. He should be thrown in a pit and left there.

Did this article seriously argue against prosecuting a child rapist by saying that he claims "it just happened?" That is insane. HE RAPED A 13 YEAR-OLD. This is not even remotely controversial. He should be thrown in a pit and left there.