Roman Polanski Waits to be Extradited

Roman Polanski, the famous Hollywood film director of such films “Chinatown” and “The Pianist,” was arrested by Swiss authorities as he tried to enter the Switzerland to attend the Zurich Film Festival where he was set to receive a lifetime achievement award. He now waits to be extradited to the U.S.

A Swiss Justice Ministry spokesman made the following statement regarding the newly arrested Hollywood film director Roman Polanski:

"I confirm that Mr Polanski has been arrested, the American authorities issued an international search request in 2005 in relation to a 1978 warrant."

In 1977, Polanski plead guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. However, fearing he was not getting a fair deal from the judge, Polanski fled to France where he has remained for over three decades.

In 1978, a warrant was issued for Roman Polanski's arrest. However, France does not extradite foreign nationals to countries that retain the death penalty.

The allegations of child molestation against Roman Polanski stem from an incident in which he gave a 13-year-old girl champagne and a quaalude during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson's house before performing various sex acts on the young girl.

Roman Polanski's lawyers have recently attempted to have the case dismissed. Earlier this year, the court was set to hear a motion to dismiss on the grounds of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. However, the district attorney argued that the motion could not be heard while Roman Polanski still remained a fugitive.

In February, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinosa offered Roman Polanski the opportunity to request that the court dismiss his case, citing evidence that Polanski may not have been treated fairly,. Here there was a catch. Polanski must personally appear in court to do so and was given 2 1/2 months to do so.

Not surprisingly, Roman Polanski never appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court and, as such, the motion as denied.

Now, Roman Polanski has been arrested on a warrant and waits to be extradited to the U.S. While Roman Polanski will most certainly do everything he can to fight extradition, he will undoubtedly end up before the very court he was afraid to face over three decades ago.

Written by Gabriel Dorman
Los Angeles, California
gabedorman@gmail.com
www.criminaldefenseduilawyer.com/blog/
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