Polanski, Sex Crimes, and Victim Refusals to Cooperate with the Prosecution
People v. Roman Polanski -- Oscar winning director Roman Polanski was arrested in Los Angeles in 1977 for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Mr. Polanski entered into a plea agreement and pled guilty to the charges in exchange for "time served" as a sentence. The judge, however, rejected the plea agreement and set a hearing to sentence Polanski to additional jail time. Prior to the sentencing hearing, Polanski fled to France – which refused to extradite him to the United States -- and he has never returned. In September 2009, while in Switzerland for a film festival, the Swiss police arrested Polanski at the request of the U.S. authorities. The United States formally requested his extradition in October, but the Swiss authorities refused the request and released him.
The victim in the Polanski case is now 45 years old and has publicly forgiven him. She also filed a formal request that Los Angeles prosecutors drop the charges against him. The victim stated that the continued publication of the details of the incident are taking an emotional toll on her and her family and that she wants to be able to move on from the incident and stop reliving the details of the assault. Despite these wishes, the prosecutors are still pursuing Polanski, and intend to arrest and sentence him should he ever come to the United States again.
In many sex crimes and domestic violence cases the victims state that they wish for the charges to be dropped or that they do not want to participate in the prosecution of the case. While this may affect the prosecutor's decision to proceed with the case, it is not (as in the Polanski case) the determining factor on whether to proceed with or to drop a case.
Contrary to popular belief, victims in sex crimes and domestic violence cases do not choose whether to prosecute or drop a case -- that decision lies solely with the prosecutor. Prosecutors represent all of the people of the State of California and the belief is that they have an interest in prosecuting offenders whether the victim cooperates or not. Additionally, even if a victim refuses to testify, there may be sufficient evidence for the prosecutor to win at trial by using witness statements, the defendant's statements to police, or other evidence of the crime.
Sincerely,
Steven Valerio and Garret Weinrieb
Valerio | Weinrieb Criminal Defense Attorneys
(note: Information contained within this article is intended for general information purposes only and is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice for any individual case or situation. The information contained within this article is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship and use of this article, and any information contained herein, does not constitute such a relationship.)
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