LA Times:
If he is returned to Los Angeles, Polanski's first move would probably be requesting that all charges be tossed because of alleged judicial and prosecutorial misconduct, said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson.
"Bring that motion first and try to get the entire case dismissed," said Levenson, a former federal prosecutor.
The misconduct allegations would rest on interviews in a 2008 HBO documentary -- "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" -- in which the original prosecutor, retired Deputy Dist. Atty. Roger Gunson, and defense attorney Douglas Dalton detailed improper and unethical conduct by the judge, who died in 1993.
The men said in the film and reiterated in court declarations this year that Rittenband improperly sent Polanski to Chino for the purpose of punishment rather than testing. The judge, they said, had agreed to set Polanski free after that stay, but reneged and decided to imprison the director again at his official sentencing in what amounted to a second round of punishment.
"I told Judge Rittenband that the diagnostic study was not designed to be used as a sentence, but [he] said . . . he was going to do it anyway," Gunson wrote in an August declaration in appellate court.
In the documentary, retired L.A. County prosecutor David Wells recalled giving Rittenband the idea of using the diagnostic testing as punishment during backroom conversations about the case. Wells recanted that statement Wednesday.
Polanski's attorneys presented evidence of misconduct by Rittenband and Wells to the Superior Court's supervising criminal judge, Peter Espinoza, last year, but he refused to consider their arguments because the defendant was still a fugitive. Espinoza, who could preside over Polanski's case in the future, noted, however, that he found evidence of "substantial . . . misconduct."
If Polanski's lawyers can establish that Rittenband went back on his word, they could argue that the director has already served his prison time and should now be placed on probation. That would mean his immediate release.
There is precedent for such a move in the case history. In 1997, when Polanski's lawyer quietly approached Judge Larry Paul Fidler about resolving the case, the judge agreed to a plan in which the director would return to the United States and immediately receive a sentence of probation. According to a court declaration by Dalton, the judge faulted Rittenband's actions in a meeting in chambers, saying the judge should have honored his pledge to release Polanski after his imprisonment in Chino.
Another defense strategy could be seeking to withdraw Polanski's 1977 guilty plea. Voiding the plea deal would open the door to a trial on all six felonies originally charged, including more serious counts such as rape and sodomy, and the possibility of a much longer prison sentence.
But, longtime defense attorney Roger Jon Diamond said, "it could be good for him because the victim is not going to cooperate with the prosecutor."
2 comments:
I have no sympathy for anyone molesting a child. None-what-so-ever.
You don't understand the entire case on Polanski, Chicago Native. Yes he had sex with a minor without her consent using alcohol and drugs. But, what the press won't report is Polanki pleaded guilty 30 years and did serve time. However, the judge and the prosecutor manipulate the justice system and change their mind and decided for him to do more time. That is why he fled the U.S. I am not taken up for what he did 30 years ago. But, the truth of the corruption of his case will come out. If that does, I really doubt he will come back to the U.S.
What he did is inexcusable and what the Manson and his followers did to his late wife, Sharon Tate, is inexcusable. Everyone has a price to pay for decision that he or she makes in his or her life and does Polanki. So, I remembered his case quite clearly.
Oh and let's not forget the rape victim, now 43 years old. She has moved on with her life and she doesn't want the whole case drag back in her life. And she, the rape victim, opposes her rapist being in prison. That speaks volume.
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