People v. Roman Polanski | |
---|---|
Court | Los Angeles County Superior Court |
Full case name | People of the State of California v. Roman Polanski |
Decided | August 1977[1] |
Verdict | Pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor |
Charge | |
Court membership | |
Judge sitting | Laurence J. Rittenband |
On March 10, 1977, 43-year-old film director Roman Polanski was arrested and charged in Los Angeles with six offenses against Samantha Gailey (now Geimer),[2] a 13-year-old girl:[3] unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. At his arraignment, Polanski pleaded not guilty to all charges,[4] but later accepted a plea bargain whose terms included dismissal of the five more serious charges in exchange for a guilty plea to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.[5]
Polanski underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation,[6] and he was placed on probation.[7] However, upon learning that he was likely to face imprisonment and subsequent deportation,[8][9] Polanski became a fugitive from justice, fleeing to England and then France in February 1978, hours before he was due to be formally sentenced.[10] Since then, Polanski has mostly lived in France and has avoided visiting any countries likely to extradite him to the United States.
Polanski pleaded not guilty Friday to a Los Angeles County Grand Jury indictment charging him with drugging and raping a 13-year-old
Hoping to preserve Geimer's anonymity, her attorney Lawrence Silver arranged for Polanski to plea-bargain, to keep the case from going to trial. Accordingly, Polanski pleaded guilty to the lowest of the counts against him, unlawful sexual intercourse.