Polanski Begins Captivity in Swiss Splendor
Roman Polanski's family greets him at the Alpine hideaway
AP
Swiss police drive a car, right, with Roman Polanski inside on the access road to the film director's chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009. Roman Polanski's family waited inside the director's Alpine chalet Friday as Swiss authorities worked out the last-minute details of his transfer to house arrest. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Roman Polanski begins his electronically monitored stay at a Swiss chalet.
A police convoy -- mostly black Audis and Volkswagens with tinted windows -- escorted director Roman Polanski Friday to a Swiss Alpine chalet. He was welcomed by his wife and children.
The court of appeal in California will hear arguments Thursday regarding whether Polanski needs to come back to LA. He fled LA three decades ago.
The 76-year-old will stay at the chalet as Swiss officials decide whether to extradite him to the U.S. for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
In jail, he was allowed outside for one hour of daily exercise, could occasionally use the telephone but could only see family and friends for one hour each week. In Gstaad, Polanski can organize his days as he likes, working on his films and phoning and e-mailing whenever he wants.
But he cannot leave the three-story chalet. If he does, the electronic ankle bracelet he's wearing will tell authorities.
Polanski can receive guests or hold parties at the house and order in gourmet meals. He has views of snowcapped Alpine peaks, spacious rooms and all the amenities of a town known for its skill at catering to the wishes of the rich and famous.
If Polanski breaks the conditions for his bail, the Swiss government confiscates the $4.5 million he deposited. That substantial bail amount was a key element in granting the house arrest -- a first in Switzerland for a detainee in an extradition case.
"(District Attorney Steve) Cooley is still trying to get him back through the extradition process," said legal analyst Royal Oakes. "That's going to take months, but it's very likely it will work and he will be back in LA."
Acting on behalf of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, U.S. authorities formally requested his extradition on Oct. 22, knowing he planned to travel to Switzerland, with which the United States has an extradition treaty.
Polanski admitted the relationship with the teen girl, but fled on the day he was to be sentenced after a judge allegedly threatened to send him back to prison instead of giving him a probationary sentence, as called for in a plea agreement.
Since then, he as lived in France, which like many European countries, does not extradite its citizens. In California, his attorneys have been seeking to get the child sex conviction dismissed on grounds of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct.
Sentencing Approach Has Changed Since 1970s
If he is returned to LA, Polanski faces a court system with a much different approach to statuatory rape terms.
The LA Times reviewed court records of cases in which men admitted to statuatory rape in exchange for dismissal of more serious charges. The Times found that, since 2004, there have been 50 cases in Los Angeles County that are similar to Polanski's. The defendant received a sentence of one year or more in 72 percent of those cases, according to the Times.
The Times report said sentences typically are four times longer now than the 90-day punishment a judge favored for Polanski in 1978.
"Thirty years ago, sexual assault -- rape and sex crimes -- were treated differently," Robin Sax, a former sex crimes prosecutor for the L.A. County district attorney's office, told the Times. "Time and education haven't worked for Polanski's benefit."
