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According to legal experts, pedophiles, and legal experts who are pedophiles, acclaimed film director Roman Polanski, who was arrested in Zurich, Switzerland late Saturday under a 31 year old U.S. warrant related to a case where he admitted to having sex with a 13 year old girl, would most likely prevail in court and would almost certainly prevail economically should he either waive extradition or lose a battle in Swiss courts to avoid it.
“From a legal and economic standpoint, all the stars are aligned in his favor,” according to Pueblo State University’s Newton Toomey, who was unclear as to the area of expertise in which he falls, “for one thing, he can buy a home in the L.A. area AND pay for a legal ‘dream team’ for less than what the house itself would have cost a year or two ago. Second, the party in any legal proceeding who has the ‘deepest pockets’ has a huge advantage and usually prevails. California is broke. And aside from whatever personal wealth he now has, his arrest occurring as it did virtually guarantees an extra $50 million in box office receipts for Mr. Polanski’s next film, not to mention the inevitable bump in sales for his past ones.”
Paul Katz, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who also could not be nailed-down as to his particular area of expertise in this matter, also believes that Polanski, who has an appeal in the matter still pending, would most likely have a decided edge in Los Angeles County Superior Court. “First of all, what are the odds of finding twelve jurors in Los Angeles who have not had sex with a minor? Add to that the amount of time that has gone by, the fact that his victim has expressed her desire that the matter be dropped, and the defendant’s personal history of tragedy that occurred much closer to the events in question than his current arrest, and it all stacks up against a prosecutorial body that doesn’t exactly have a great track record in highly publicized cases as it is.”
Ironically, the last nationally or internationally high profile case successfully prosecuted by the L.A. District Attorney’s Office that experts interviewed for this story could remember was the conviction of Charles Manson and his followers for the 1969 murders of, among others, Mr. Polanski’s wife, actress Sharon Tate and their unborn child. One, who is both a legal expert and pedophile but asked not to be identified during his reelection campaign, summed it up this way: “Look at their history — O.J. Simpson; the cops who beat Rodney King on camera. Need I elaborate?” Many others were also quick to point out that even if Mr. Polanski were to be convicted and sentenced to a long jail term, by the time he exhausts all avenues of appeal, California’s prisons will most likely be closed.
Actress Mia Farrow, who starred in Polanski’s 1968 film “Rosemary’s Baby,” perhaps best expressed what seems to be the prevailing public sentiment: “With everything going on in the world now, considering all the time that’s passed, the expense involved, and the wishes of the victim, I don’t see the purpose. I’m not excusing Roman for what he did, but let’s keep in mind that it’s not like the girl was his step-daughter or something…”
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