Polanski's defenders lose sight of the true victim

[question everything]

Polanski's defenders lose sight of the true victim
The grand jury transcripts of the sex abuse case paint a far more damaging picture of the events that allegedly unfolded between the director and a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's home in 1977.

Steve Lopez
LA Times

September 30, 2009

Q: Did you resist at that time?

A: A little bit, but not really because . . .

Q: Because what?

A: Because I was afraid of him.

That's Roman Polanski's 13-year-old victim testifying before a grand jury about how the famous director forced himself on her at Jack Nicholson's Mulholland Drive home in March of 1977. I'm reading this in the district attorney's office at the Los Angeles County Criminal Courts Building, digging through the Polanski file to refresh my memory of the infamous case, and my blood pressure is rising. Is it because I'm the parent of a girl? Maybe that's part of it.

But I wish the renowned legal scholars Harvey Weinstein and Debra Winger, to name just two of Polanski's defenders, were here with me now. I'd like to invite Martin Scorsese, as well, along with David Lynch, who have put their names on a petition calling for Polanski to be freed immediately. What, because he won an Oscar? Would they speak up for a sex offender who hadn't? To hear these people tell it, you'd think Polanski was the victim rather than the teenager. And then there's Woody Allen, who has signed the petition too. Woody Allen? You'd think that after marrying his longtime girlfriend's adopted daughter, he'd have the good sense to remain silent. But at least Soon-Yi Previn was a consenting adult.


(snip)

Polanski has taken the girl to Nicholson's house to photograph her, ostensibly for a French magazine. The girl's mother, it's clear to me, should have had her head examined for allowing this to happen, but that's another matter. The girl says Polanski, who was in his 40s at the time, opened a bottle of champagne and shared it with her and with an adult woman who later left for work. That's when Polanski allegedly began taking pictures of the 13-year-old and suggested that she remove her blouse... She said Polanski later went into the bathroom and took part of a Quaalude pill and offered her some, as well, and she accepted.

(snip)

She says Polanski went back in the house and returned in the nude and got into the Jacuzzi with her. When he told her to move closer to him, she resisted, saying, "No. No, I got to get out." He insisted, she testified, and so she moved closer and he put his hands around her waist. She told him she had asthma and wanted to get out, and she did. She said he followed her into the bathroom, where she told him, "I have to go home now."

(snip)

She testified that he put his mouth on her vagina. "I was ready to cry," she said. "I was kind of -- I was going, 'No. Come on. Stop it.' But I was afraid." At this point, she testified, Polanski became concerned about the consequences and asked if she was on the pill. No, she told him. Polanski had a solution, according to her. According to her, that didn't stop Polanski, who began having anal sex with her. This was when the victim was asked by the prosecutor if she resisted and she said, "Not really," because "I was afraid of him." She testified that when the ordeal had ended, Polanski told her, "Oh, don't tell your mother about this.".. Now granted, we only have the girl's side of things. But an LAPD criminalist testified before the grand jury that tests of the girl's panties "strongly indicate semen." And a police officer who searched Polanski's hotel room found a Quaalude and photos of the girl. Two weeks after the encounter on Mulholland Drive, Polanski was indicted for furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, committing a lewd or lascivious act upon a child under 14, unlawful sexual intercourse, rape by use of drugs, perversion (oral copulation) and sodomy.

(snip)

There's little question that this case was mishandled in many ways. According to a recent documentary, the now-deceased judge inappropriately discussed sentencing with a prosecutor who wasn't working the case. And Polanski's lawyers allege that the director fled only because he believed the judge would cave under public pressure and renege on a promise that he would serve no more time. Regardless of whether there was such a deal, Polanski had not yet been sentenced, and under state law at the time, he could have been sent away for many years. Does anyone really believe 42 days was an appropriate penalty given the nature of the case?.. But no misconduct was greater than allowing Polanski to cop a plea to the least of his charges. His crime was graphic, manipulative and heinous, and he got a pass. It's unbelievable, really, that his soft-headed apologists are rooting for him to get another one.



latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez30-2009sep30,0,4549479.column

[question everything]

1. So, you Ued it without even reading it?

You could not have, not in the few seconds since it was posted.

Some day, if you have a daughter, you may come back and regret it.

[snake in the grass]

18. It's crazy.

As I began reading the page, there were 3 recs shown. Afterward, I clicked the 'rec' button and it showed only 2 recs. Who would unrec this article?

[BOSSHOG]

2. It would be nice

if he could be tended to in private. I heard the victim on the radio yesterday and she isn't looking forward to that part of her life being dragged out all over again. He should be given a fair trial, sadly the attending press coverage will go 24/7.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Which is why

its sometimes better to just let things rest which is what the victim , the girl, would seem to prefer.

[question everything]

10. Like many here, my original (gut) reaction was - old news

let it go.

But, I admit, after reading this opinion in details - many of the verbatim I had to cut to keep with the rules - I changed my mind.

I would expect to have diverse opinions here and I respect all of them. But to just dismiss it - why even bother to comment with an anonymous U?

[roguevalley]

30. then all pedos have to do is flee and wait it out. nice.

[Warpy]

5. She's also said she wants an official end to it

so she doesn't have to be afraid of having it dragged out all over again. She doesn't want Polanski in prison, she says he doesn't deserve it. She just wants it all over with.

I have a great deal of sympathy for both of them. I have the most sympathy for the frightened child who was raped. I have a little sympathy for Polanski because after he pled guilty, complied with the court and submitted to six weeks in a mental institution for intense evaluation and treatment, the DA grandstanded, pulled the rug out from under him and insisted on a Draconian prison term, something that flipped out a Holocaust survivor. Yes, Polanski had been in one of those camps.

The two real villians in this are the ambitious mother who left a vulnerable little girl alone with a playboy and the grandstanding DA. Without the former, the opportunity wouldn't have presented itself. Without the latter, the fallout for the victim would be long over.

Sympathy for the rape victim should never be an either or proposition that ignores the fact that the criminal really did get a raw deal.

[Blue_Tires]

9. excellent points

i'm not all that familiar with the case, but i was wondering where the mother was in all this...

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Yuugal]

21. Amen!

As the father of two young girls I want to see an example made of this pervert that you can't be raping children and getting away with it just because you ran from justice for 30 yrs. I cant believe on a progressive site like this people have such a low opinion of the rights of a 13 yr old girl. This person goes on ignore forever because I don't give a fuck what pedophiles or their supporters think about any subject.

[Hepburn]

23. So then it is OK with you that the judge sentencing Polanski stated...

...while at his all white no Jews allowed Country Club that he planned to put that "fucking Jew" in jail for life?

As a father of two daughters, does that kind of judicial misconduct work because the crime was so evil?

[Howardx]

27. bullshit hearsay

prove it.

[Yuugal]

29. Do you have proof?

Since the judge is dead I suppose you can say whatever you like about him without any proof. Those defending rape always resort to that crap. I didn't know he was jewish but honestly, why would I care what religion a pedophile is? The whole pro-pedophile argument seems to be not that the judge did anything wrong but that he was going to at a later date. How convenient for you that judge is dead.

The fact remains he DRUGGED AND RAPED A 13 YEAR OLD GIRL and people like you want him to get away with it. Is that because he is jewish?

[Hepburn]

20. Rittenband was a fucking lunatic about this case...

...and IMO his name defines judicial misconduct. That has nothing to do with the crime which was committed ~~ it was reprehensible ~~ it has to do with the fact that the judge was a complete unethical asshole who even contacted the media to discuss the case with them. And that was one of the least unethical things he did.

JMHO

[mrbarber]

22. Throwing a 40 year old man who drugged and raped a 13 year old girl....

Is "draconian" What the fuck are you smoking?

Oh, and if he didn't want to flip out at the thought of being put in prison because he was a Holocaust survivor-maybe he shouldn't have raped her in the first place.

[Rebubula]

31. Well...Hell...

...Now that I know that he is a famous director AND a Holocaust survivor that changes everything!!!

:sarcasm:

Fuck him and his Holocaust past. No amount of previous suffering can make up for raping a child. IN FACT - someone that lived through the horrors of the camps should have been MORE understanding and sensitive to the plight of the helpless.

WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT HIS PAST? He raped a child.

Please carry on though...your ability to sympathize with rapists intrigues me. How far does that go? Would you forgive Bush for his crimes if he was beaten as a child or survived some traumatic event.

As stated by Will Graham (protagonist in the movie 'Manhunter' - original movie of Hannibal Lector remade into 'Red Dragon' starring Harvey Keitel and Ed Norton) - "As a child, my heart bleeds for him. Someone took a little boy and turned him into a monster. But as an adult... as an adult, he's irredeemable. He butchers whole families to fulfill some sick fantasy. As an adult, I think someone should blow the sick fuck out of his socks. "


Also...ON EDIT...according to Wikipedia, Polanski was NEVER in a concentration camp - his mother (died) and father (survived)were in separate camps. Roman lived in the Warsaw Ghetto until 1943 when he escaped with the help of Polish Catholics.

[The Green Manalishi]

33. And who the fuck cares how much of an asshole the judge was.

I don't care if the judge promised him a blowjob and a pony, or was a klansman. It doesn't change the fact that the rapist in question should have done hard time for decades in the company large, lonely inmates.

[Gormy Cuss]

32. Polanski is THE villain in this case. You can point to others as accomplices but that doesn't change

the fact that he's the middle aged man who had sex with a 13 year old whose statement indicates that she said no more than once. If you've read Polanski's plea agreement it's very clear that he was aware of the potential sentence. Submitting to the mental evaluation was mandatory, not optional, because of the girl's age.

This criminal didn't get a raw deal. He fled the country on the presumption that he would get one.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. No trial needed, he plead guilty. He left before sentencing

[ShortnFiery]

4. No, this situation is similar to my teenager obsessing about one issue. "Yes I agree fully ...

but can we please stop talking about it ad nausea?!?" :shrug:

[WeekendWarrior]

6. Sigh.

This is grand jury testimony.

Does anyone know what that is?

Once again, I won't apologize for Polanski -- I think what he plead guilty to was horrific enough -- but grand jury testimony is designed ONLY to convince the jury to send a potential defendant to trial. The witness is never confronted, never cross-examined, and in most cases, the potential defendant is not present and never testifies.

So you can use her testimony to see her side of the story, and you can choose to believe or not believe her, but that isn't the full story, and it's unfair to brand a man based on a single, unchallenged piece of evidence.

As before, I only say this because we have a system that judges someone innocent until proven guilty. Put aside Polanski and his plea to Statutory Rape and think about innocent people who have been convicted and destroyed in the court of public opinion, simply because people don't fully understand how the system works. Especially the media.

It's bad enough that he's an admitted statutory rapist. But that's all that's been proven in this case, and the man deserves his day in court.

[question everything]

11. From the OP

Now granted, we only have the girl's side of things. But an LAPD criminalist testified before the grand jury that tests of the girl's panties "strongly indicate semen." And a police officer who searched Polanski's hotel room found a Quaalude and photos of the girl.

[WeekendWarrior]

13. I'm not saying that Polanski

didn't have sex with the girl. He plead guilty to that, so that's a given. What I'm saying is that her testimony is not TRIAL testimony, it's merely Grand Jury testimony, which is a whole other ball of wax.

Polanski is a great director, but he's a perv, as far as I'm concerned.

I just don't like to see anyone given the one-sided treatment. I guess it's counter to my liberal nature.

Oh, and by the way, in those days a LOT of people took drugs, especially Quaaludes. So finding a pill in his house is only evidence of drug abuse, not forcing drugs on someone else.

Any approach to a legal matter has to be objective. Otherwise we might as well hang it all up.

[panader0]

7. Get caught with a joint, you go to jail. DUI- go to jail

Drug and rape a 13 year old and you get praised as a great artist. I am ashamed for the actors, actresses and movie directors that are standing up for him. Rape my daughter and I'll go to jail- for beating the guy nearly to death and cutting his nuts off.

[winyanstaz]

17. I agree with you!

[doc03]

8. Can't they just execute the SOB

now. You know we are going to hear Nancy Grace and Larry King talking about this for years. :sarcasm:

[question everything]

12. This is really the worst

Had he not escaped and faced a "jury of his peers" who, as with OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson may have acquitted him, this would have been the end. At least, we did not have then 24 hours "news" cycle, YouTube and... Internet message boards..

[waiting for hope]

14. I heard on NPR this afternoon

a woman who was abused about the same age as Polanski's victim - she said she was an artist too, but if caught speeding, did that excuse her from the ticket? She said she didn't think so - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113346879 Some of the comments from the show were sickening in that there were a lot of men calling in defending Polanski. One comment was clear, it wasn't about how the victim felt now, but how she felt at 13.

K&R

[Hepburn]

19. How about what Rittenband said?

That count for anything in your evaluation of the entire issue? Or it is OK for the sentencing judge to state at his all-white-no-Jews-allowed L.A. Country Club right before the sentencing date that he planned to put that "fucking Jew" in jail for life?

Just curious if you think that could be judicial misconduct?

Edit for typo.

[mrbarber]

24. So obviously the correct course of action is to run to France?

[Hepburn]

25. Who said that was a correct course of action?

I am merely asking about the conduct of the judge ~~ you seem to have an opinion about Polanski already. So please try again and this time, please comment on the judge, OK?

[mrbarber]

26. Well let's see, the judge was a piece of crap, as stated in the article.

So because this was already covered, it would seem silly to bring up again, unless your trying to prove a point? What was your point in bringing up the judge?

[Howardx]

28. prove it

its bullshit childrapist apologia until you do.