Let me be clear, Polanski had sex with a 13 years old was wrong and criminal.
Now, I don’t plan to turn this blog entry into an in-depth commentary of the US Judicial System at the time of the case of Roman Polanski 30 years ago. But I believe one can and should consider some of the facts and information presented in the HBO documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired. A doc that I watched and found insightful in many places because of the people the filmmaker interviewed (e.g. lawyers from both sides). Here is the trailer,
Sometimes it is easy for us to feel that we can confidently decide on the “innocent” or “guilt” of a person simply by reading a few “facts” and headlines in news media. Unfortunately, in real life, things are a lot more complicated.
As both the prosecuting attorney and defence lawyer pointed out, some actions of Judge Rittenband was clearly inappropriate and likely illegal (guiding and telling both prosecuting attorney and defence lawyer what to say in front of the cameras, holding press conference to discuss a case before it was decided, etc), which later lead to the dismissal of Judge Rittenband from the Polanski case.
Finally, let me be clear AGAIN, the fact that Polanski had sex with a 13 years old was wrong and criminal. But then even a criminal (or suspected criminal) should be given a fair hearing and treated fairly and impartially by the judicial system and sentenced in a fair manner.
When you had a judge soliciting legal advice from reporters and coaching lawyers from both sides what to say and how to say things like a mock-trial, how can one still think the case had been decided in a fair and equitable manner?
Let us take this as a reminder for us to learn about the powers and limits of the judicial systems in our own countries and ensure our own judicial systems are as fair and equitable as they can.
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