Roman Polanski flight risk 'high,' court says in rejecting bail

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: LA Times

October 20, 2009 | 6:45 am

Roman Polanski suffered another legal setback today when a Swiss court refused to release him on bail out of concern he would leave the country.

Polanski was arrested last month in Zurich and faced extradition to Los Angeles for sentencing in the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl more than three decades ago. Polanski had fled the U.S. before sentencing, saying the judge in the case was not treating him fairly.

The Swiss court in Bellinzona said in its ruling that Polanski, 76, had a "high" flight risk if released on bail.

“The detention of the accused during the entire extradition proceedings is the rule,” Swiss Federal Criminal Court Judge Cornelia Cova said. “This allows Switzerland to meet the obligations of its extradition treaties.”



Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/roman-polanski-flight-risk-high-court-says-in-rejecting-bail-.html

[WriteDown]

1. Flight risk high?

That's an odd conclusion. :eyes:

[closeupready]

3. Yeah, right? It's not like he ever did that before?

Oh, wait... well that was just a youthful indiscretion. Surely he wouldn't do that again. :eyes:

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. I wonder if hsi lawyer was able argue with a straight face that he wasn't a flight risk

[47of74]

2. High flight risk?

[tomm2thumbs]

4. fight or flight? - he chooses flight

unfortunately for Polanski, the judge chooses this one for him

[Wickerman]

5. Roman is the flight risk poster boy

not too surprising that the judge would deny bail.

:shrug: For years when I've heard flight to avoid prosecution, I've though of Polanski.

[onehandle]

6. Q: Why not honor 'obligations of its extradition treaties' the many other times he was there?

A: To create a distraction to slow the process of the current demands for the identity of secret Swiss bank customers so that they can move or reorganize their assets.

Hey, look how helpful we can be when it's for our own good. Yes, we could have scooped up this rapist any other time but... No, no. Don't look in those vaults... Over here... See the little Jewish rapist.

[closeupready]

8. Oh, please - give the anti-semitism card a rest.

:eyes:

[onehandle]

15. I really didn't mean it that way.

But the fact is, they could have served him up many times before this.

They're just doing this for PR reasons.

[closeupready]

16. Well I agree that the bank brouhaha is an element, yes.

n/t

[WriteDown]

9. Those crazy Zionists.

:eyes:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. "No, no. Don't look at his conviction for child rape...over here...see the antisemitism"

[Demeter]

13. I Think It Was Tied in With the IRS and The Global Bank Failures

Money moves in mysterious ways....the Swiss are trying to make nice to us, for once in the 55 years I've been around. They even cut the price of truffles!

[damntexdem]

11. Why should the judge consider the flight risk high? After all, it's not like ...

oh, never mind.

;-)

[Demeter]

12. "Fool me once..... shame on you, fool me twice..."

ain't gonna get fooled again!


Who woulda thunk GWB was quotable?

[proteus_lives]

14. Good!

The rapist Polanski is a flight risk and should sit in a jail cell until he's transferred to an American prison.