Roman Polanski Arrest and American Justice

The USA is already coming under criticism for asking the Swiss authorities to arrest Roman Polanski until an extradition request can be made to bring him back to face sentencing on a crime he pled guilty to 31 years ago. The famous Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown director fled the USA after pleading guilty to the rape of a minor in 1977 and has made it a point to stay out of reach of American justice ever since. In early 2009, attorneys for Polanski made motions to get the matter dismissed which were unsuccessful.

To try to understand the matter, I am going to compare the Polanski case to the Howard Mechanic case, where many people also felt our court system was unjust, and Mechanic actually received a presidential pardon after serving a much shorter sentence than the one he initially evaded. On to the facts:

Case No. 1 - Hiding in Plain Sight
Howard Mechanic was an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis who was found guilty of throwing a cherry bomb during a Vietnam War protest in 1970. He was charged under the Civil Obedience Act of 1968 and sentenced to 5 years in prison. During the appeal process, Mechanic fled the jurisdiction and assumed a false identity as Gary Tredway in Arizona. He led a private life for some 28 years until, for whatever reason, he decided to run for office on the Scottsdale City Council in 2000. A reporter named Penny Overton exposed his identity in the newspaper, despite Mechanic's attempt to persuade her to keep it a secret. He surrendered in February 2000. His co-defendant in the case, Larry Kozak, had only received a 90-day sentence and now claimed he was the one who threw the cherry bomb, not Howard. A plea deal was reached whereby a 4 month sentence for failure to appear for sentencing would run concurrently with his original sentence. In January 2001, he was pardoned by then President Bill Clinton. Hiding in Plain Sight: Tales of a Fugitive is the name of the A&E program detailing his story.

Case No. 2 - Staying Out of Reach but Not Bothering To Hide
In a 1977 plea bargain, Roman Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, then 13 year old Samantha Geimer (nee Gailey), during a photo shoot in a hot tub at Jack Nicholson's Hollywood home. The original charges against the film director were rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. Polanski was ordered to report to a state prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation, but was granted a stay of 90 days to allow him to complete a project he was working on. He did report to Chino State Prison for the evaluation period, and was released after 42 days. On February 1, 1978, Polanski flew to London, and the next day, went to France, where he held citizenship. He has since avoided visiting countries where he felt he risked extradition to the USA.

What Parallel?
Obviously, the circumstances surrounding these two cases are vastly different. The charges also differ dramatically, but the all important similarity is that both defendants stood convicted of the crime they were charged with when they fled.

That is a very important point that a lot of people don't want to take into consideration, including the victim in the Polanski case. Our court system quite simply does not forget about your conviction because you decided to go on the run for whatever reason or for how ever long.

If Polanski's case is dismissed, what kind of precedent will that set? Many other defendants awaiting sentence will just say toodle-oo! It's a point to remember while the Roman Polanski case plays itself out, because all the boo-hooing in the world doesn't change the fact that he fled the country after pleading guilty. It will be interesting to see how the case is finally resolved.

In the meantime, France needs to stay out of it. French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand (nephew of former French President Francois) has indicated that he has discussed this matter with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and that he is "deeply shocked". The French expect their laws, including their refusal to extradite fugitives, to be respected and they should respect our laws.

Polanski's celebrity friends would also do well to keep mum. Americans are very very tired of celebrities who think they are above the law.