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Polanski originally faced six felony charges related to the drugging and rape of then 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977. He eventually pleaded guilty to one count of having unlawful sex with a minor, but left the country in 1978 after being convinced that the judge in the case, the now deceased Laurence J. Rittenband, meant to backtrack on a plea agreement and send him back to prison. Polanski's most recent attempts to have the case dismissed faltered because of a chicken-and-egg legal loop. Polanski refused to appear in court in person for fear of arrest...
...also provided a statement detailing previous extradition efforts, including an attempt to arrest Polanski, now 76, while he was in Israel in 2007. But the recent legal motions on Polanski's part seemed to have rolled into his apprehension in Switzerland, after years of apparent inactivity in a case that is far more complicated than just an unpunished sex crime, which is how it has been debated through the week. (See a list of 25 crimes of the century, including the murder of Polanski's wife Sharon Tate...
...wrongdoing during the time of the director's original arrest. In the film, the then Los Angeles deputy district attorney, David Wells, says he met with Rittenband without the presence of defense counsel to argue for more jail time for Polanski. Wells was not himself an attorney on the case but he was a lawyer working for one of the parties, the state of California. The California Code of Judicial Ethics forbids judges to engage in ex parte communications, or discussions where only one side of a case is represented. Wells, who retired two years ago, has now recanted what...
Geimer has also joined in Polanski's bid for dismissal, saying she wants the case to be over. She sued Polanski and reached an undisclosed settlement during the original court proceedings. Braun says that is a further argument to put before the Swiss court. "The basis for the extradition would no longer be a conviction or a plea, but whether or not there was a case against him, and there isn't a case against him because the victim has grown up and says she won't testify." Braun continues: "Or a Swiss court says we'll extradite him only...
...biggest surprises in the strange David Letterman blackmail case is the man who has been arrested for the crime. Robert (Joe) Halderman is no shadowy underworld figure. He is a respected producer on another CBS show - 48 Hours - who has won several journalism awards...