Polanski’s Predicament

A lot of noise is being made about the recent unsealing of the prosecutor’s testimony in famed Director Roman Polanski’s matter. As to whether it will have any practical effect on Polanski’s case is another story.

In 1977, Polanski pled guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in Jack Nicholson’s home. He allegedly gave her champagne and a sedative and forced her to have sex. At sentencing, Judge Lawrence Rittenband, now deceased, sent Polanski into custody to have a 90-day diagnostic evaluation performed which would yield a sentence recommendation which the judge assured he would follow. To the judge’s surprise, the recommendation was for Polanski to not serve any more time. The judge indicated he would not go along with the recommendation, so Polanski fled before sentencing.

The unsealed transcript reveals that the handling district attorney, Roger Gunson, said that the judge broke his promise to Polanski and was not shocked that Polanski fled. He said the judge privately told them that he had to be tougher on Polanski than he originally planned due to pressure from the media. In other words, the rules were changed in the middle of the game for Polanski.

The question now before us is will this unsealed testimony provide Polanksi’s defense attorney, Harlan Braun, with a renewed opportunity to request that the Los Angeles County Superior Court recall and quash Polanski’s warrant and sentence him to time-served, without having him appear in person. This would not be the first request made by Polanski. Previous attempts have resulted in the judge basically ruling that no rulings can be made on the case without Polanski first appearing in person.

Even with the release of this transcript, a judge will likely still require Polanski to appear in person to allow for sentencing arguments to ensue. If Polanski decides to roll the dice and appear, this testimony will surely put him in a better position to ask the court for a time-served sentence. Even the victim supports his position. Up until now, it wasn’t clear as to why Polanski fled his sentencing and that act alone would normally trigger a higher sentence than was contemplated. The unsealed testimony clears that up.

Polanki is 88-years-old and has managed to live life for 40 years without appearing in court to address this issue. Given his age and uncertainty how a judge would handle his matter now, it is unlikely that he will now appear in court to close this chapter out. It’s also doubtful that a judge would recall the warrant without him appearing, given the severity of the underlying conviction and the reluctance to show favoritism to a Hollywood celebrity. Anyone else in this situation would have to personally appear in court.

What is almost certain is that Polanski will seize on this energy to renew his pitch from afar and dramatic court proceedings will resume. Lights, Camera, Action..