# Polanski falls for the old "We'd Like to Give You a Lifetime Achievement Award" Trick!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 27, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742 "2009-09-27T11:49:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/1 "2009-09-27T11:49:45Z")
[The Swiss have nabbed Polanski.](http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/27/zurich.roman.polanski.arrested/index.html)
They seem all harmless with that Nuetrality facade- that’s how they getcha!
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/2 "2009-09-27T11:57:04Z")
Can’t say I’m sad.
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### Author:  [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/3 "2009-09-27T11:59:22Z")
Is there any realistic chance of a conviction in the USA? Especially as the case is so high profile and so old, I’d have thought a fair conviction would be difficult.
Or would they rely on his confession?
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/4 "2009-09-27T12:11:31Z")
I’m wondering if in thirty years of living in France this is his first time entering Switzerland, or if it’s that only recently Swiss policy has turned anti 13 year old girl rape.
He certainly went into Switzerland not expecting any trouble.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/5 "2009-09-27T12:29:54Z")
Good to see such wise use of resources. 31 years chasing a guy for a crime that the victim feels should be tossed out.
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/6 "2009-09-27T12:54:16Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#):
>
> Good to see such wise use of resources. 31 years chasing a guy for a crime that the victim feels should be tossed out.
What kind of resources went into chasing him (asking honestly, I don’t know)?
Hasn’t it pretty much always simply been, “If he steps where we can take him, we’ll take him”?
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### Author:  [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/7 "2009-09-27T13:01:35Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#):
>
> Is there any realistic chance of a conviction in the USA? Especially as the case is so high profile and so old, I’d have thought a fair conviction would be difficult.
He signed a plea agreement in 1977, but fled the country before he could be sentenced. Depending on the circumstances, a defendant can be tried in absentia, but they generally can’t be sentenced in absentia.
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### Author:  [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/8 "2009-09-27T14:06:04Z")
As I understand it, there are significant questions about judicial/prosecutorial misconduct in the matter of the sentencing. My guess is that the Swiss will end up not extraditing.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/9 "2009-09-27T14:42:58Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#):
>
> Good to see such wise use of resources. 31 years chasing a guy for a crime that the victim feels should be tossed out.
Really? I heard in interview with her describing the rape. I did not hear her say anything of the sort.
Besides, rape is an offense against society. We do not need the victim’s approval to lock the guy up. Further, he violated an agreement with the court. He needs to go to jail for that.
Cue Nelson Muntz!
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/10 "2009-09-27T14:49:24Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#):
>
> Besides, rape is an offense against society. We do not need the victim’s approval to lock the guy up. Further, he violated an agreement with the court. He needs to go to jail for that.
>
> Cue Nelson Muntz!
Yep. As I understand it, justice serves four basic principles: punishing the guilty (as they deserve), providing vengeance for the victims (to prevent them from taking vengeance into their own hands, and as they deserve), rehabilitating the guilty/preventing them from being in society (so they won’t do it again), and warning other miscreants.
The victim doesn’t want vengeance, AFAICT. Polanski is really unlikely to do it again, AFAICT. I’m not a big fan of punishing the guilty out of some sort of sense of cosmic justice.
But the warning to other miscreants is a powerful force, and I’m all about pursuing this case as a warning to others.
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/11 "2009-09-27T14:58:24Z")
[News here.](http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Roman-Polanski-Taken-Into-Swiss-Custody-Film-Director-Held-On-1978-US-Arrest-Warrant/Article/200909415392545?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15392545_Roman_Polanski_Taken_Into_Swiss_Custody%3A_Film_Director_Held_On_1978_US_Arrest_Warrant)
> [@](#):
>
> Roman Polanski was facing extradition to the US after he was taken into Swiss custody on a 1978 arrest warrant.
>
> In a statement the Zurich Film Festival said the Oscar-winning director was held on his arrival in Switzerland.
>
> A spokesman for the city’s police confirmed Polanski had been detained, but gave no further details.
>
> The Swiss Justice Ministry was reported as saying he would be extradited to the US.
>
> Polanski was making a film of the Robert Harris book The Ghost, who told Sky News he was “utterly stunned” by the arrest.
Is it petty and wrong that I’m happy about this?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/12 "2009-09-27T15:00:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I’m wondering if in thirty years of living in France this is his first time entering Switzerland, or if it’s that only recently Swiss policy has turned anti 13 year old girl rape.
>
> He certainly went into Switzerland not expecting any trouble.
According to an account I read, there was a relatively recent request by the United States (in 2005) asking the Swiss government to take Polanski into custory if he entered the country.
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/13 "2009-09-27T15:08:37Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#):
>
> As I understand it, there are significant questions about judicial/prosecutorial misconduct in the matter of the sentencing.
That’s [putting it lightly.](http://parallax-view.org/2009/01/26/roman-polanski-wanted-and-desired-dvd-of-the-week-12709/)
> [@](#):
>
> But that’s only half the story. Polanski’s treatment by the American legal system, and in particular a media-obsessed judge more interested in public relations than justice, is an appalling portrait of judicial malfeasance, a legal nightmare worthy of Kafka and the kind of abuse of power that Polanski ostensibly left behind in Communist Poland. The repeated legal abuses perpetrated by presiding judge Laurence J. Rittenband, who paid more attention to the court of public opinion than the laws he swore to uphold and staged a press conference to announce his rulings in the case, appalled both the defense lawyer and the prosecuting attorney so much that they joined together to have him removed from the case. Polanski’s flight from the erratic behavior and possible punitive actions of a judge who reneged on rulings and seemed to be making up new twists on the case as he went along may not look heroic, but to Polanski it was a simple matter of survival. “Who wouldn’t think about running when facing a 50-year sentence from a judge who was clearly more interested in his own reputation than a fair judgment or even the well-being of the victim?” Gailey wrote in 2003 in the New York Times. She’s put it past her and wishes the rest of the media would do the same.
> [@Paul in Qatar](#):
>
> Further, he violated an agreement with the court. He needs to go to jail for that.
Actually, Polanski & Gailey came up with a mutually acceptable plea bargain that Rittenband, after accepting it, went back on. What Polanski did was heinous, but if I saw a vendetta-driven judge acting as unethically and prejudicially as this one was, I might have run, too.
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### Author:  [@Neverending\_Elbow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neverending_Elbow)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/14 "2009-09-27T15:12:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Polanski was making a film of the Robert Harris book The Ghost, who told Sky News he was “utterly stunned” by the arrest.
It’s probably not easy to stun a ghost, but there you have it.
But aside from clumsy sentences, I’m interested how this will pan out.
Anybody know what exactly he is facing?
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### Author:  [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/15 "2009-09-27T15:25:16Z")
_flips double-birds_ Up yours, Roman Polanski! This has been a long time coming!
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### Author:  [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/16 "2009-09-27T15:32:17Z")
I am sorry to hear this.
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### Author:  [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/17 "2009-09-27T15:34:37Z")
Here’s the full text of Yahoo’s article regarding this (it looks like I hit it at just the right moment, because this was gone a minute later):
> [@](#):
>
> **Swiss arrest Polanski on US request in sex case**
> 8 mins ago
>
> OK, can you do some more probing? New York will want to know
>
> frank’s out today.
>
> i checked already, and so did zurich. they say the question is irrelevant. he answered me with the quote i used, about we knew when he was coming this time. he’s been here many times in the past, we think.
>
> thx brad. aptn is aware, but unfortunately won’t make it in time, but is hoping to catch tail end.
>
> i’m pushing out another writethru with some more background details before press conference.
>
> no surprise, new york is really hot on this.
>
> they particularly want to know why now. (has he never set foot in switzerland before?) sheila, theorizes that’s because they’re under intense pressure over ubs and want to throw the U.S. a bone, but can yo ucheck with justice department sources there?
>
> is frank around too, or are you alone?
>
> u can tell aptn press conf 1700 (15 gmt) in bern at the parliament
>
> i’ll watch it live on internet
Big “oops” on someone’s part. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/18 "2009-09-27T16:03:46Z")
APTN? That can’t be [_this_ APTN](http://www.aptn.ca/), can it?
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### Author:  [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/19 "2009-09-27T16:41:36Z")
> [@bienville](#):
>
> I’m wondering if in thirty years of living in France this is his first time entering Switzerland, or if it’s that only recently Swiss policy has turned anti 13 year old girl rape.
>
> He certainly went into Switzerland not expecting any trouble.
Yeah, he went into the kid not expecting trouble, too, I’ll bet.
I’ve read the transcript of the kid’s deposition. I’m a big fan of the part where (after they’re coupled) he asks several times whether she’s on birth control and when she can’t answer just sticks it in her ass instead.
Nice guy.
And if I were Polanski I’d sure as shit not want a new trial in the current climate. In the 70s he could get a light sentence. But nowadays if he’s convicted of
1. Serving alcohol to a child
2. Drugging a child.
3. Raping a child following her drugging.
4. Then anally raping her to prevent a possible pregnancy
He’s not coming out anytime soon. Even for a star in LA that’s too much. PLUS it’s possible for someone to just try to shoot him for kicks and vengeance.
The 2000s in America are NOT the 1970s in America. We’re now the society where kids are so protected that even the appearance of older male interest in young females is enough to get a police report filed. I was 10 in LA in 1977 when the rape took place. Oftimes during the summer my friends and I would have NO supervision at all between about 8AM and 6PM. We were completely on our own and no one gave it a second thought. And this was upper-middle class suburbs not some downtrodden east LA neighborhood. It was Redondo, for goodness’ sake.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742/20 "2009-09-27T16:44:21Z")
Merged two threads on this subject.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polanski-falls-for-the-old-wed-like-to-give-you-a-lifetime-achievement-award-trick/511742.md?page=2)