Roman Polanski Undergoing Medical Tests

PARIS — One of Roman Polanski's lawyers says the jailed filmmaker is undergoing medical tests, though his current condition "is not of exceptional gravity."

Herve Temime told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that after Saturday's tests Polanski would return to the Swiss prison where he is being held on a U.S. arrest warrant for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

The Paris-based lawyer declined to say what kind of exams Polanski had undergone or where they were administered.

Swiss tabloid newspaper Blick printed pictures Saturday of a van it said had whisked the director from the prison the northeastern city of Winterthur to an unnamed Zurich hospital.

Polanski has been in custody since late September.

Comments

[DontJustFollow]

either it is anxiety at being sent to a fed prison in the south or it is anxiety of there not being any little girls where he is going - - either way this condition is 30 years over due.

don't be afraid Roman, I am sure your new room mate Bubba will be happy to ply you with some hooch and a few pills to get you in the mood - - -

[Secularist]

What is it with you and this Bubba fantasy?.

[sexyrexy]

lol.. mobviously he's dreaming of bubba..

[brady61995]

he could have a heart attack and go and justice would be served faster and cheaper

[zeebruce]

People are quick to jump on people like Roman Polanski while law enforcement continues to ignore incest which is a truly heinous crime with far great psychological consequences that affect the victims for their entire lives. Everyone knows it occurs and yet when a 12-year old daughter is impregnated by her daddy, the law enforcement community (and that includes local prosecutors) continue to look the other way, unless the daddy is a Mormon in which case he is fair game.

And let's not let the mothers off the hook like the one who brought her daughter to Roman's hotel or the thousands of mothers who look the other way for years while their daughters are rapped by their fathers. A lot of the anger directed at Polanski is misplaced and most likely due to people's own sense of guilt for their general complacency.

It is OK to deny birth control or even an abortion to a 12-year old who is being raped over a period of years by her father or her mother's boy friend or not worrying about whether the child even has enough to eat. Where is the moral outrage for the thousands of homeless boys and girls who are forced into the sex trade to survive after they run away from physically and sexually abusive parents?

[Secularist]

Polanski was prepared to go to trial to fight the more serious allegations, but he was then offered a good deal and he took it. If he plead guilty to sex with a minor, then the other charges would be dropped and the sentence would be less severe. It was recommended by the DA, the officials who examined him, and the victim's attorney that Polanski be given a fine and probation. However, the judge did not want to come across as soft in the press, so he convinced all parties that if Polanski went to Chino prison for "examination", this would be an unofficial sentence, and he would be fined and put on probation at the official sentencing. The DA warned the judge that it is illegal to use mental testing prison facilities for sentencing, but the judge ignored him. The judge promised to set Polanski free after that stay, but when Roman was released early (again with the recommendation that he just be given probation), the judge reneged and decided to imprison him again at his official sentencing in what amounted to a second round of punishment. The judge threatened to jail Polanski for "a 100 years", but even at 50 years it would've been a life sentence. Also, in another act of judicial over-reaching, the judge said he would deport him. After Polanski fled, the judge was removed from the case for misconduct.

[Eris23]

So many falsehoods in there.

[Secularist]

This comes directly from the DA, Polanski's attorney, court documents, etc. Other judges who reviewed the case said there was sufficient misconduct. The documentary, "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" covers this material in more detail, if you are interested. I don't know how soon after Polanski's fleeing the judge was removed from the case, but he was removed.

[brady61995]

the laws should be changed. when you rape you get life. when you take that much from a person you should never have that chance again. a child a woman a man a old person it does not matter.

if you have kids. if you are insane, if you are a clown or a math teacher and preacher, its all the same. its violent and destructive and does damage that can never be repaired. Life no paroll no chance no more.

[leeclayton]

I think that in order for you to make headway with your legal reform you'll first need to learn to spell words like "parole".

[brady61995]

your right about that. too bad thats all you can add to this conversation.

[Secularist]

When it comes to the word rape, people are equivocating too much. When we usually think of rape, we think of physical force (or a threat of) being used to sexually violate an unwilling victim. It is a horrific crime. So when people write, "He raped a child!", they are relying on that classic definition of rape for the moral outrage. But then you say, hold on. How do we know there was physical force? Those were just allegations made by the victim. Polanski denied them and said the teen was a willing participant. The case did not go to trial partly because the victim's family did not want it to, and the only charge Polanski stands guilty of is sex with a minor. It's a crime, yes, but it's not rape. But then people start to stretch the definition and say that any time an adult has sex with anyone underage, it's rape. OK, but then it's a different crime, and the outrage is not the same. In fact, we have a term for it: statutory rape. The accusers then slip back to the old meaning and say, "exactly, it's rape," as if the word means the same thing in both cases. This lessens the impact of the charge, which is insulting to all those women who have been brutally raped. No one is condoning what Polanski did, and it is a crime, but if we trully care about justice, we should be careful not to play these games.

[DontJustFollow]

why would anyone stretch that far to try to minimize what that monster did to a young girl ?

[Secularist]

I am NOT minimizing or condoning in any way what Polanski did, which was a very serious offense. It just seems that way to you because you are blowing things out of proportion or are blindly accepting the victim's allegations, which may or may not be true.

[brady61995]

MY LAST POST ON THIS. YOU DONT HAVE SEX WITH CHILDREN WILLING OR NOT. THAT IS THE LINE. YOU CAN HAVE SEX WITH A DOG OR YOUR MOM(i am not saying this to you secularist) I DONT CARE JUST STAY AWAY FROM CHILDREN

[Secularist]

Actually, incest and beastiality are not OK either.

[sexyrexy]

who said she was a child?? NOT IN LOS ANGELES .. they are mostly miniature adults at 8 years.. ask DREW..
pOlanski was right- sex with an underage girl.. but NEVER A CHILD..

[sexyrexy]

hey.. brady.. your posts say more a BOUT you than it ever does Polanski..

nothing like self-projection eh?? mostly what i read in these Polanski threads.

[mydwyf]

Psychic force can be just as or more powerful than physical and most adults understand that --
hence the general reaction to such a great age disparity. The psychic force a dominant alpha
male in his prime (?) can exert over a young teen pretty much makes the use of physical force
completely unnecessary. At the very least, Polanski 'had sex' or 'made love' (his terminology)
with this girl while he thought she was having an asthma attack, after telling her to 'lie down
until she felt better'. Come on, apologists, tell us all just how great that behavior is !

[Secularist]

The asthma story comes from the victim's testimony, and may not be true, as his account contradicts it. You can not condemn a man on allegations alone. That's not justice.
No none is saying that sex with a minor is OK. You are right that the experience can be traumatic. Nevertheless, there is a world of difference between statutory rape and rape, which is a much more heinous offense.

[Marcospinelli]

"I don't understand why you seem to equate belief that Polanski should be brought back to face the sentence he skipped out on with somehow NOT being enraged about other global issues or issues within our own government. The two are not mutually exclusive- I can want our government to be held accountable for many things AND want Roman Polanski to come back to the states to face the sentence he fled from in the 60s."
===============================

It was 1977.

And the federal government knows that YOU are only capable of paying attention to one thing at a time, and it's hoping this (or 'balloon boy' or some other matter inconsequential to your life) does it for you.

Justice can get meted out in different ways, & this case does not warrant this kind of attention.

The most accurate description of this case would probably be that it's been stalled, in suspended animation, for the last 30 years. And it probably should have stayed that way, with Polanski never being able to enter the US, scurrying between fewer than a handful of countries with no extradition treaties with the US; clearly that was his own living heII. It was obviously driving him cr@zy, not to be allowed to go where he wanted, most particularly the US.

Polanski's world has been narrowed significantly for the last 30 years, back to the conditions of his first 12 years of life, when he was essentially in prison, persecuted & running for his life.

[CrisOmg]

It was 1977. That seems like a red herring. Who cares when it was? A fugitive felon should be pursued no matter what the time frame. I dont' understand the logic that says a crime committed x years ago isn't worth following up on...

Even if we're being duped by some conspiracy to keep our minds off of other - more pressing - matters, justice still deserves to be served. He was convicted of a felony and skipped the country before he could be sentenced. (And I'll reiterate what you were commenting on. I can think about both health care reform AND Roman Polanski. I'll do you one better... I can think about 2 wars, a wrecked economy, a useless Congress, corporate corruption, health care reform AND Roman Polanski.)

The living nightmare that is his life - at least in any relation to this crime and sentencing - is entirely his creation. Had he stayed and faced the music, this wouldn't even be an issue. He isn't the victim.

[PWM]

Exactly. If we let people off for avoiding justice because of time, then we have no business hunting down exnazis.

[Marcospinelli]

"It was 1977. That seems like a red herring. Who cares when it was?"
=======================

It's not a red herring, but it is a small point. It's only important in that when you fudge one fact, it becomes all too easy to continue down the road of dissembling about the other facts.

And while you believe that you can think about 2 wars, a wrecked economy, a useless Congress, corporate corruption, health care reform AND Roman Polanski, you're here talking about this, and the LA District Attorney's office is allocating scarce resources NOT prosecuting cases relating to the well-being of Los Angeleans.

I don't think you have any idea just how much our media and government is in league to distort and distract attention of the citizen, and how much of our tax dollars goes to propaganda campaigns used on us.

[sexyrexy]

huh.. time and place are/were of the essence in this case.. better believe it.

highly unlikely this scenario would have happened otherwise.

[Chris1234]

Tell me Marco - WHY was this case "been stalled, in suspended animation, for the last 30 years?"

Want to guess it has to do with someone choosing to become a fugitive? Someone who chose to become a fugitive not because a judge treated him wrong, but because he *feared* that he might?

And yes, when you run from justice, and your name is, I dunno, on INTERPOL for INTERNATIONAL EXTRADITION TO THE UNITED STATES, your future travel plans might be compromised. Boo-f-ing-hoo. Absolutely irrelevant to the present discussion.

[deezus]

I'd be feeling sick too if there was a good chance of getting sent to an American prison as a pedophile.

He probably fears getting a taste of his own medicine.

[CrisOmg]

Technically, he was convicted of a felony sex offense involving a child under the age of 14 years. I believe pedophila is a psychological description and therefore not something you can be convicted of.

But make no mistake he's a convicted felon who ran before he was sentenced.

[deezus]

Yes it is a psychological designation, but fellow inmates won't make such distinctions.

[PWM]

No. He was not convicted of that. He confessed to stat rape and ran off before he could be sentenced ran off.

[PWM]

I suspect he will create an "illness" issue and request release from jail to recover at home. Of course, once out of jail he will flee the country.

[jackbutler5555]

Stream of consciousness? Or, shall we mark your words?

[PWM]

No, he will claim chest pains or something like that, at his age it could very well be true, but once let loose he will run off.

The best indicator for future behavior is past behavior.

[SweetTart]

He's suffering withdrawals from his usual fare of underage doped up girls.

[ywcachieve]

What's he's suffering from is, 'anti-prisonitis.' It's a very rare disease, but that's what he's got.

[Trollstakeyourmeds]

Yep. I heard the Bernie Maddoff had the same thing.

[ObliqueReference]

Long time no talk.
This is Ryan A.
Add me to your 'fans of' already! please
I've only got 7 after about 600 posts.

[Secularist]

Is there anyone who goes to prison who doesn't suffer from that?

[jackbutler5555]

Why not match up poor legal analysis with poor remote medical diagnosis?

[avshanbh]

Pedophilia!!!

[Joye]

Could his 'malady' be guilt? After all these years?

[ofcoursejesusisblack]

Not likely.

[leeclayton]

What could be a more valuable contribution to this dialogue than speculation on a conjecture?

[Fudgefase]

Terminal shame, I hope.

[Malkin72]

He should never see the sun again.

Period.

[medicontheedge]

i work in the emergency department... we call this condition "acute avoidincarcerationitis"

[rzan1]

Very funny!

[Marcospinelli]

Anyone else without Polanski's celebrity, his infamy, would have likely gotten the plea deal honored and gotten the probation which was the standard sentence at the time for that offense.

Had a judge in any other case in Southern California at that time reneged on a plea deal with a non-celebrity defendant, that defendant would have been able to withdraw his guilty plea and gotten a trial with jurors from an untainted jury pool.

This is the point that anti-Polanskiites aren't appreciating. This is where their opinions become clouded by rage and vitriole and of no value as responsible citizens. Their own very personal subjective reaction, for a victim and a situation with which they have no personal knowledge or experience, have obliterated their ability as citizens to make sure that there is equal justice under our laws for everyone, including the accused.

Where is this 'torch-and-pitchfork'-rage they feel for Polanski (and those of us who are questioning our federal government's involvement and interest in pressuring a foreign government on this 30-year-old case) when it comes to crimes that have been done directly to the anti-Polanskiites by our federal government under the previous administration?

Where is that same rage against the current administration for refusing to even investigate the crimes done to humanity in all of our names by the Bush administration?

[eweqo]

I believe polanski should have been allowed to stay in europe with the rest of his decadent friends . but I can't understand why all of the obama supporters are lining up to excuse his behavior. or pretending it wasn't a dispicable crime. or to pretend that america is the bad guy because they want to prosecute a criminal. maybe if it were your daughter you could at least emphasize with the "torch and pitchfork" rage. and why try to conflate the issue with President Bush? obama knows he would be guaranteeing his own prosecution if he tried that route. that's what predendence is all about. President abush didn't commit any crimes and he will never be prosecuted unless the terrorists win.

[Marcospinelli]

What is "predendence"?

[Marcospinelli]

I'm an old liberal Democrat who's not too thrilled with Obama; I don't think anyone is excusing Polanski's behavior. And if it was as cut and dried (or happened) as the mouth-frothers claim, I'd say, "Despicable, hang him high". But it wasn't.

[KrautMan]

You should have said "... to stay in OLD europe with the rest of his decadent friends." Your hero Bush and his BFF Rumsfeld made it pretty clear that it's the OLD europe where all the bad and decadent stuff is happening. Like the thinking in more shades than only black and white. Like deciding not to join a war of aggression. Like criticizing places like Guntanamo and practices like waterboarding. Ah, the decadence! You guys should nuke us, god will sort us out.

[ofcoursejesusisblack]

Who are these Obama supporters you are talking about??? Stop spreading your lies.

[SweetTart]

Nice try, insisting that those who think Polanski shouldn't be punished for his crimes are "Obama supporters." But just because you like to say so, doesn't make it so. I support President Obama, voted for him and am very glad he's my president. I also think Polanski deserves to be imprisoned for what he did.

Now I shall stand back and watch your head explode :)

[ahren]

I'm not an "anti" polanskinite.

For me it is simple.

Except for premeditated murder, I can't think of anything more serious than "premeditated" drugging, raping and sodomizing a child. That he has gotten away with it all these years, only make it more necessary to bring him to justice.

[jackbutler5555]

How do you know about drugging, raping, sodomizing? Did you dig into this or are you feeding over the road rage here?

[piul05]

"Anyone else without Polanski's celebrity, his infamy, would have likely gotten the plea deal honored and gotten the probation which was the standard sentence at the time for that offense."

Mere supposition that has no weight on the matter but, going along with your rationale, one can also argue that anyone else without Polanski celebrity would probably not have been offered any deals and would have gone to trial on all the six charges.

"Had a judge in any other case in Southern California at that time reneged on a plea deal with a non-celebrity defendant, that defendant would have been able to withdraw his guilty plea and gotten a trial with jurors from an untainted jury pool."

Instead of which, he fled. By doing so, all the charges are back on the table, plus one for fleeing.

[Eris23]

The poster is hopelessly ignorant. He thinks it's our federal government pursuing the matter. It's hard to listen to such people constantly yammer that we don't know the facts, all while they get the easily known facts wrong. ;)

[jackbutler5555]

"Mere supposition that has no weight on the matter but, going along with your rationale, one can also argue that anyone else without Polanski celebrity would probably not have been offered any deals and would have gone to trial on all the six charges."

The prosecution had a bad case. They didn't prep the witness well, allowing her to say things that were undermined by the medical exam. So, the defense would have been able to damaged her credibility by confronting her with the inconsistencies. They could not corroborate other elements of her accusations.

Otherwise, why would they agree to a deal? If they had the goods on him, he'd be brought to trial and convicted. And Polanski also had lacked confidence in the outcome. That's the makings of a deal. Both sides stood to gain and to minimize losses.

Now, if you're saying poor defendants don't always get adequate representation, I'd agree with that. But even an overworked public defender could win all or almost all of the case. It was poorly handled by the DA. I don't think that should shock us. It's happened before.

[Eris23]

You have no idea what you are talking about.

[Marcospinelli]

No, you have no idea what I'm talking about.

[JimR]

The judge did not renege on the plea deal. The deal was for 90 days of psychiatric observation in prison. Polanski served only 42 .

[Marcospinelli]

No, the 90 days of psychiatric observation was not the sentence.

By law, a psychiatric evaluation was required in offenses with minors under 14 years of age to determine if the offender is an MDSO (Medically Disordered Sex Offender). That was separate from, but part of the presentence report given to a judge at the sentencing from a probation department. The 90 days of psychiatric observation was for a psychiatric evaluation, to be completed within 90 days.

If Polanski had been determined to be an MDSO, he would have been kept the entire 90 days, at which time he would have been transported to the court for sentencing.

Judges invariably go with a probation department's recommendation. And according to one study from that time that I've cited here, in the very few times when judges haven't kept to plea bargains, it's been in cases of repeat offenders.