There is a meme spreading through the news that Roman Polanski pled guilty “in exchange” for a 90-day sentence. Here is the AP quoted at ABC News:
Polanski pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse. In exchange, the judge agreed to drop the remaining charges and sentence him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. Polanski was released after 42 days by an evaluator but the judge said he was going to send him back to serve the remainder of the 90 days. Polanski then fled the country on Feb. 1, 1978, the day he was to be sentenced.
The same language has appeared in other AP stories, such as this one (published in the New York Times).
The story’s clear implication is that a 90-day sentence was part of Polanski’s plea agreement — that he pled guilty only because he had previously received assurances that we would serve only 90 days in prison.
That is absolutely false. The documentary film about Polanski does not make this claim. Polanski’s lawyers do not make this claim. His plea transcript does not substantiate this claim.
According to all those sources, when Polanski plea guilty, he was promised only: 1) that other charges would be dropped, and 2) that the judge would decide the sentence after hearing the arguments of counsel and reviewing the probation report. Polanski acknowledged in his plea that he might receive prison time:
MR. GUNSON: Mr. Polanski, who do you believe will decide what your sentence will be in this matter?
THE DEFENDANT: The judge.
MR. GUNSON: Who do you think will decide whether or not you will get probation?
THE DEFENDANT: The judge.
. . . .
MR. GUNSON: Do you understand that at this time, the Court has not made any decision as to what sentence you will receive?
THE DEFENDANT: (No response.)
MR. GUNSON: Do you understand that the Judge has not made any decision?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
. . . .
MR. GUNSON: Mr. Polanski, do you understand that at the time of probation and sentencing, the prosecutor may argue that you should be sentenced to State Prison, or incarcerated in the County Jail?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
The sentence was up to the judge, who had the right to send Polanski to prison. In the film, Deputy D.A. Roger Gunson says he was pleased with the agreement because it exposed Polanski to as much as 50 years in prison. Polanski acknowledged in the plea transcript that he understood that the charge to which he was pleading carried a lengthy potential prison sentence.
According to all parties, the alleged promises by the judge to send Polanski for a 90-day diagnostic and then release him were made after the plea, in comments made in chambers. Nobody says that Polanski pled “in exchange” for these assurances, which were made only after his plea.
So can you stop misleading people, AP? Thanks!
P.S. The latest AP story contains this remarkable passage concerning internal e-mails between people working at the L.A. District Attorney’s Office — for whom I work, but for whom I do not speak on this blog:
It is unclear from the e-mails why Los Angeles officials were concerned about Austrian cooperation on a Polanski extradition request. There was no reference to Polanski’s history as a Jewish Holocaust survivor whose mother died in Auschwitz, or the sensitivities about having him pursued in the land of Adolf Hitler’s birth.
Wow. So now the D.A. is insensitive for considering having Polanski arrested in Austria because Hitler was born there? Did I really just read that?
Amazing.