Your Evening Polanski Update, Part 1
There’s too much news for one post.
The Smoking Gun chose today to release Roman Polanski’s plea transcript (yes, Richard Rushfield and Anne Applebaum, it was a plea, not a “trial”). Anne Applebaum, call your office! Contrary to Applebaum’s claim that “[t]here is evidence that Polanski did not know her real age,” a read through the transcript reveals that Polanski admitted under oath that he knew she was 13:
THE CLERK: Would you raise your right hand, please?
You do solemnly swear that the testimony you may give in the cause now pending before this Court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
. . . .
MR. GUNSON: On March 10, 1977, the day you had sexual intercourse with the complaining witness, how old did you believe her to be?
(Pause in the proceedings while a discussion off the record ensued at the counsel table between the defendant and his counsel.)
THE DEFENDANT: She was 13.
MR. GUNSON: Did you understand that she was 13 on March 10, 1977, when you had sexual intercourse with her?
(Pause in the proceedings while a discussion off the record ensued at the counsel table between the defendant and his counsel.)
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
His defenders will claim that he lied to get a plea bargain — he didn’t think she was a day under 14! — but anyone claiming that there was “evidence” that he didn’t know her age might also consider reporting his sworn testimony that he did.
For what it’s worth, Applebaum today responded (in a message reproduced in a Washington Post chat) to my post noting that she had failed to disclose her Polish politician husband’s active role in seeking Polanski’s release when she wrote her silly post supporting Polanski. Applebaum’s defense:
I have disclosed that [the marriage] before, more than once. Also, when I wrote the blog I had no idea that my husband, who is in Africa, would, or could do anything about it, as Polanski is not a Polish citizen. I am not responsible for his decisions and he is not responsible for mine.
Interesting; I guess I learned about her husband’s actions before she did. (Thanks to reader Paul V., who is not impressed.)
P.S. Bear in mind that, as always, I am speaking personally and not on behalf of the L.A. County District Attorney, for whom I work.
UPDATE: Part 2 of tonight’s Polanski update is here.
UPDATE x2: Ms. Applebaum, the Associated Press and Bloomberg both say Polanski is indeed a Polish citizen (as well as a citizen of France). Could you possibly be wrong about that, as you have been wrong about so much else?
UPDATE x3: DRJ contributes even more links which also say Polanski is a dual citizen of France and Poland: Reuters and (pay close attention, Ms. Applebaum) a Washington Post op-ed.
[…] (It’s all too much for one post. Part 1 is here.) […]
Patterico’s Pontifications » Your Evening Polanski Update, Part 2 (e4ab32) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:23 pmI thought – and it has been reported – that Polanski holds dual Polish-French citizenship?
AD - RtR/OS! (4994e0) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:27 pmI agree with AD. Everything I’ve read (Reuters, the AP, and even this Washington Post op-ed) said he has dual French-Polish citizenship.
DRJ (b008f8) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:38 pmThe Smoking Gun is awesome.
Note pages 11 and 12, in which Polanski repeatedly and specifically acknowledges that he understands that the judge, not the prosecution, gets to determine his sentence.
Also, it’s amazing how little a plea colloquy has changed in 30 years.
Great job staying on top of this, Patrick.
Ken (c97a0c) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:42 pmI just did an update with links to AP and Bloomberg re AD’s point. I’ll add DRJ’s.
Patterico (64318f) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:43 pmLMAOROTFCAG. Really Anne???!??!!
Pat! Read the article Anne Applebaum links to in her screed! LMAO.
Here’s an excerpt, just in case it’s scrubbed! (I also have a screen shot):
She’s such a freakin’ idiot.
Dusty (7bba43) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:44 pm[…] No. 2: Patterico is on fire on this issue. Here he links to a new Smoking Gun post containing a transcript of Polanski’s plea, and correctly notes […]
Patrick GoldStein of the Los Angeles Times and Joan Z. Shore at the Huffington Post, Along with the French, Join the Rape Apologists In Defending Roman Polanski After His Arrest By the Swiss | Popehat (895595) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:48 pmGood catch, Dusty.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:51 pmThanks, SPQR.
Dusty (7bba43) — 9/28/2009 @ 7:13 pm[…] I mentioned earlier this evening, Anne Applebaum today defended her decision not to disclose her Polish politician husband’s […]
Patterico’s Pontifications » Anne Applebaum: I Had Absolutely No Way to Know That My Husband Was Helping Polanski — That Is, Other Than by Reading a Story Which I Myself Linked (e4ab32) — 9/28/2009 @ 7:32 pmAm I the only person to notice that the Left thinks forced sex with minors is unforgiveable when it a Catholic priest commits the act but a perfectly acceptable act when it’s committed by an “artist?” And can anyone provide me any logical explanation for why this might be?
Bru (d0d3f0) — 9/28/2009 @ 8:21 pmMy apologies for the extraneous “it.”
Bru (d0d3f0) — 9/28/2009 @ 8:23 pmBru – It’s all about “nuance.”
daleyrocks (718861) — 9/28/2009 @ 8:28 pmAwesomeness.
I always wonder about people who agitate for people like Polanski (or, for that matter, Tookie.)
The guy who is worth fighting for is…. Roman Polanski? I mean, this is the greatest injustice you can find? Really?
You want to take shots at prosecutors so you think the guy who would make a good poster child for prosecutorial overreaching is…. Roman Polanski?
It’s sort of like the Save Tookie crew. I get opposing the death penalty, but I don’t get spending a bunch of time to Save Tookie when instead you could save kids by using that energy for stricter seatbelt enforcement.
How about saving the actually falsely accused?
Great coverage here, Patrick.
–JRM
JRM (355c21) — 9/28/2009 @ 9:52 pmMy favorite part of the Patrick Goldstein article is when he likens Polanski to ….(wait for it)….Jean Valjean – Yep, stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving child = drugging and then anally raping a 13 year old girl – both were later unfairly persecuted by the MAN. Maybe someday we’ll learn to just live and let live…….
Shlomo O'Brien (06197b) — 9/29/2009 @ 12:20 amThe Jean Valjean comparison is getting old, and isn’t even very good. Stealing a loaf of bread to feed your family or avoid starvation is very different from raping a 13 year old. The first might be considered necessary and capable of mitigation. The second is just perverted and self-indulgent.
Rochf (ae9c58) — 9/29/2009 @ 5:20 am[…] has done excellent work laying out the case and filling in his readers on all the details (Part 1 and Part 2). Even though this is not part of his work for the District Attorney’s Office, […]
Polanski in the News « Forward Observation Post – Vermillion (aac2c4) — 9/30/2009 @ 7:33 pmHollywood Royalty and the Embrace of the Vampire Polanski…
The reaction of Hollywood’s narcissistic bubble-dwellers to the arrest of Roman Polanski underscores the stark divide between moral relativists willing to romanticize the degeneracy of an artist and the rest of us. The capacity of these entertain…
Jenn Q. Public (66615e) — 10/1/2009 @ 2:20 pm[…] with that sentence — and feel it is too “confusing” to tell readers that Polanski admitted under oath that he knew her real age: MR. GUNSON: On March 10, 1977, the day you had sexual intercourse with […]
Patterico’s Pontifications » Anne Applebaum: Telling the Whole Truth Now Would Be Too Confusing (e4ab32) — 10/2/2009 @ 8:36 pm