Polanski to Fight Extradition to U.S.

I found the resurfacing of this case to be interesting, particularly in light of the text regarding jurisdiction issues internationally. I was surprised to learn that so many extradition possibilities were ignored by countries with whom the US has relationships with that would allow this. Also moderately surprising I found was Polanski's ability to legally fight extradition to the US. I would have thought that this would have had to have been filed and desired by the country holding Polanski, not him personally. I will be curious to find if the 'refusal to be extradited' is upheld by the Swiss government, whose authorities arrested Polanski. A last point I found surprising about this story was that CA governor would be the person who could issue a pardon. Truly a morass of jurisdictions.



ZURICH—An attorney for Roman Polanski said the Academy Award-winning director plans to fight extradition to the U.S. from Switzerland, where he was arrested over the weekend on a 31-year-old warrant for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
The arrest and possible extradition opened a diplomatic row in Europe as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner pressed the Swiss to free Mr. Polanski, calling his detention "a bit sinister." Mr. Kouchner and Poland's foreign ministry were considering a joint request to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to seek a pardon for Mr. Polanski.
The Los Angeles district attorney's office said that it planned to pursue extradition through the U.S. Department of Justice. A U.S. law-enforcement official said Monday that preparing such a request can take weeks. According to the U.S. treaty with Switzerland, Mr. Polanski can be detained by Swiss authorities for up to 60 days while U.S. authorities file the extradition request. Either side could appeal the outcome.
Hervé Temime, one of Mr. Polanski's Paris-based lawyers, issued a statement Monday saying that his client plans to fight any request to send him back to the U.S. "Mr. Polanski has refused to be extradited," Mr. Temime said in the statement. "Considering the outrageous circumstances of his arrest, his Swiss lawyer will immediately request his release, possibly under certain conditions. His lawyers also emphasize that any extradition request is illegal," the statement said. In addition to his French lawyers, Mr. Polanski has retained counsel in Zurich.
A spokeswoman for the Justice department had no comment on the statement by Mr. Polanski's lawyers.
The arrest added a new chapter to the long-running legal saga of a celebrated but controversial film-industry figure. Mr. Polanski, director of the films "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby," fled the U.S. in 1978 after being convicted in California on one count of having sex with an underage girl. After fleeing the U.S., Mr. Polanski took up residence in France, where he was born to Polish parents.

Roman Polanski, right, with his attorney in a Santa Monica, Calif., courtroom in August 1977, after the film director entered a guilty plea to having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

As part of an appeal filed earlier this year, Mr. Polanski's lawyers argued that the Los Angeles district attorney's office had not made serious efforts to extradite Mr. Polanski. But a spokeswoman said the district attorney's office has made attempts to have Mr. Polanski arrested since 1978, and requested countries from Canada to Thailand arrest Mr. Polanski when authorities learned of his travel plans.
In some cases, Mr. Polanski changed his travel plans, the spokeswoman said. In other cases, foreign governments did not make the arrest. During a 2007 trip to Israel, for example, the Israeli government requested additional details from the district attorney. "By the time the information arrived, Polanski had left Israel and was not arrested," according to a timeline of events provided by the district attorney.
Mr. Polanski's decision to fight extradition opened the door to another long legal battle to decide his fate. He could have opted to return to California in the hope that his conviction would be dismissed. Earlier this year, he appealed his conviction in a California court, arguing that the judge who heard his case was guilty of misconduct. The court acknowledged "substantial misconduct" by the presiding judge in the original 1978 case, but refused to rule on any appeal as long as Mr. Polanski was on the run.

Swiss authorities have defended their move to arrest Mr. Polanski, saying that they were bound by an extradition treaty with the U.S. to respect a valid request. During a visit in France Monday, Swiss Economy Minister Doris Leuthard said, "The Americans are convinced of the necessity to arrest Polanski. It was up to them."
Seeking a pardon for Mr. Polanski would open a new political conundrum with a uniquely Hollywood twist. Because Mr. Polanski has been convicted of a state crime, a pardon would have to come from the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former actor.




http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125413187268245957.html