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Politics | 01/13/2009 9:30 am

Polanski Rape Victim Samantha Geimer Asks Court to Dismiss 30-Year-Old Case

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
Samantha Geimer at the "Roman Polanski" documentary

© AP

The woman raped by the fugitive filmmaker Roman Polanski three decades ago — when she was only 13 — has asked the court to drop the case.

Samantha Geimer, now 45 years old and with a family, lashed out to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office this week, and said that publishing details of the case continues to cause "harm" to her and her family. Geimer wrote in a declaration to the court, reports BBC: "I have urged that this matter come to a formal legal end. I have urged that the district attorney and the court dismiss these charges."

Geimer says she believes prosecutors are deliberately reciting the sexually explicit details as a ploy to distract from accusations of wrongdoing by them and the judge who heard the case 31 years ago, the Associated Press reports. The request for dismissal will be heard January 21. Geimer says she is willing to appear in court, but says it’s a "cruel joke" to expect Polanksi to appear as well.

As we all know, Polanski fled the United States before he was sentenced but admitted to engaging in unlawful sex with a teenaged Geimer at actor Jack Nicholson’s house. Polanski believes that if he returns, he will be arrested, and has been living in France for decades. Not even winning an Oscar for best director in 2002 for "The Pianist" could lure him back. A 2008 HBO documentary, "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired," raised speculation that Polanski would return to the United States, for it prompted his lawyer to file his own dismissal motion. 

Guess we’ll have to wait and see if this latest brouhaha will bring Polanski back.

 

20 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

f p
I have no truck with Polanski—he’s slime as a person; yet I’ve also read that the judge in the case went way beyond legality in his desire to prosecute. This needs to be over.
By f p on 01/13/2009 9:41 am
Elizabeth L
He is a RAPIST !!!!!!!!!!!! end of story.
By Elizabeth L on 02/15/2009 1:07 pm
Grande Camper
Well I feel for Geimer and if she said she wants the case drop then it should be done.
By Grande Camper on 01/13/2009 9:42 am
Brooklyn Gal
I just hope he doesn’t return “a hero”. He still had the means to fight the decision rather than run away.
By Brooklyn Gal on 01/13/2009 9:45 am
Tee Zee
wOw what an incredible lady! I pray her wishes are respected. What Polanski did he will have to answer for.
By Tee Zee on 01/13/2009 10:00 am
Patty E
I did not realize there were no ‘time limits’ on rape. I know there are none on murder. hmmm
By Patty E on 01/13/2009 10:58 am
HA BIBI
What should have happened was that he was not granted freedom prior to sentencing as he proved to be the flight risk he was. And, as a result of him fleeing sentencing, he should have been brought back to the U S to face his jail time. I can understand her wanting to avoid the publicty, yet at the same time, one should never become complacant when it comes to upholding the law and the punishment for the crime commited.
By HA BIBI on 01/13/2009 11:09 am
%$#@* !@&*^!!
Then you agree that Bush Inc should be tried for instigating an aggressive war against the US Constitution and International law…among a raft of crimes committed.
By %$#@* !@&*^!! on 01/13/2009 11:42 am
HA BIBI
Why ask redundant questions, especially when you already know the answer!
By HA BIBI on 01/13/2009 12:22 pm
%$#@* !@&*^!!
This entire matter should be dropped. Polanski hasn’t been tried and convicted….so I think ‘slime’ is very harsh for the man who directed the incredible “The Pianist” starring Adrien Brody and based on a true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman and relfecting Polanski’s own childhood experience under horrific conditions in Poland during Nazi occupation. http://www.szpilman.net/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/
By %$#@* !@&*^!! on 01/13/2009 11:48 am
Jim Henley
This comment has been deleted as it violated the Ten Commandments of Posting on our website.
By Jim Henley on 01/13/2009 11:56 am
Elizabeth Bennett
There was little to try as Polanski admitted having sex with the girl. So a plea bargain was arranged and the court appointed psychiatrist recommended probation. The judge had a press conference about how he would not accept that recommendation and thought fifty years would be about right. Polanski fled. [What judges have press conferences about pending cases?!] I appeared in front of Judge Rittenband on several occasions. He did not like to follow the law. He followed the headlines. So it was never pleasant. But in retrospect, I think he was not a very happy man. I do think that the whole case should be dropped, the conviction vacated and let Polanski come to the U.S. if he likes. If he had appeared in front of a normal judge, he would have gotten probation and that would have been over long ago. To perpetuate the injustice created by this judge would be wrong.
By Elizabeth Bennett on 01/13/2009 12:06 pm
Belinda Joy
They should drop the case if that is what she wants. She was the victim, so her wishes in this regard should respected. I however do not believe he should be allowed back in the U.S. I think it takes a special kind of depravation for a grown man to even become aroused by a 13 year old girl. A normal, REAL man could not. And in my mind once a pedophile, always a pedophile. Why should we invite him back into our country so he can molest more little girls? Lord knows it has been 30 years, I am sure he has honed his seduction technique for attracting teen girls. Yuck!
By Belinda Joy on 01/13/2009 2:50 pm
Buh- Bye
what do you say about a case like this? rock and a hard place. 30 years later, the victim is re-victimized and re-victimized by the courts. family traumatized. no good outcome whichever side you stand on.
By Buh- Bye on 01/14/2009 8:31 pm
cheryl till
I’m torn on this, because having been a rape victim myself that never got justice on my attacker I would like to see him pay for what he did. However, if it is damaging her and her family to drege all this back up again, let her have her say and be done with it. But then he wins.
By cheryl till on 01/21/2009 4:46 pm