Roman polanski let off

ludahai · Jul 16, 2010

PeteEU said:
Incorrect. He has NOT been found guilty but arranged a plea deal.. big difference. And he fled the country because he learned that there was a large possibility that the Judge would not honour the plea deal and put him in jail.

He pleaded guilty. When you plead guilty, it gets entered as a conviction. The judge is not required to honor any plea deal between an accused and a prosecutor. The judge has the final say on any plea deal. This still does not give Polanski or anyone else the right to flee.

There was no sentencing other than the 90 days psychiatric evaluation and the parole board and the psychiatrists both said in written statements that Polanski should not receive jail time. The Judge more than hinted that he disagreed despite the plea deal... So Polanski fled to France, and no sentencing was ever carried out.

Right. He fled BEFORE sentencing could come down. In the U.S. sentencing typically comes in a separate proceding from the conviction.

Well then dont come crying claiming injustice when someone says that is not good enough in an extradition hearing. Sucks to live in a country that has such a fragmented and incoherent legal system that it cant honour its international agreements and requests.

Anti-U.S. bias shows again, heh? You expect Americans to respect the different processes in Europe, but you decline to admit that the U.S. has equally valid processes. Do you understand what FEDERALISM means?

There is apparently no basis for the Swiss request. Even a Swiss newspaper had to question the rationale for this refusal according to an AP article. link

Another Zurich paper, the Tages-Anzeiger, called the Swiss decision "shaky."

"It breaks with the tradition of only examining the formal correctness of extradition requests," it said. "Perhaps the new practice will in the future also benefit detainees who have less of a lobby than the world-famous director."

LOL yea.. California is not part of the US.. and the extradition treaty is not between the US and Switzerland but between California and the Swiss.. sure... yea right..

Once again, showing a willful ignornace of the U.S. system and the fact that the United States has a federal system of government. The Federal government has no authority whatsoever over the California Court System except in areas where the federal constitution is involved.

Do you? The extradition treaty is between the US and the Swiss.. the Swiss requested any and all information, and the US could not comply. It is not the fault of the Swiss that the US federal system cant honour requests in international agreements just because of a piss ant local wanna be judge in California.

Typically, extradition treaties do not require any and all information. Typically they require basic evidence, and in this case there is a guilty plea and a formal conviction. The request was about the 90 days, but that wasn't the final sentence. He fled sentencing. That was the whole point. What we likely have here is a Swiss minister who is a fan of his films and was looking for the flimsiest excuse to let him go.

There is no conviction or sentencing. And it is hardly straight forward. The Swiss asked for any and all information concerning the case and the US did not provide it.. end of story. He is a free man.

No sentencing because he FLED sentencing. There was a conviction as he pled guilty.

so have many other people and their cases have not been persuade in the same way at such a high cost to the US taxpayer.

As well they should be. He commited a crime, used his citizenship status in other countries to flee and escape punishment for his crime, something that has been abetted by France and Poland for decades -- and now Switzerland. Why am I not surprised you would actually defend this predetor against the legal and judicial system of the State of California?

Roman polanski let off

ludahai

Defender of the Faith