Posted on 09/28/2009 11:19:09 PM PDT by nickcarraway
In court filings this summer, they said the L.A. County district attorney's office had made no effort to arrest the fugitive filmmaker. Sources say the allegations caught officials' attention.
Roman Polanski's attorneys helped provoke his arrest by complaining to an appellate court this summer that Los Angeles County prosecutors had made no real effort to capture the filmmaker in his three decades as a fugitive, two law enforcement sources familiar with the case told The Times.
The accusation that the Los Angeles County district attorney's office was not serious about extraditing Polanski to facing sentencing in a child sex case he fled in 1978 was a minor point in two lengthy July court filings by the director's attorneys.
But the charge caught the attention of prosecutors, who had made several attempts to apprehend Polanski over the years.
Swiss officials detained the 76-year-old Saturday as he arrived to accept a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival.
The arrest prompted protests from officials in France, Poland and elsewhere in Europe on Monday, with calls that Swiss authorities allow Polanski to be released on bail. Polanski's attorneys announced that the Academy Award-winning director would wage a vigorous legal fight in Swiss courts against extradition to the United States.
There have been persistent questions about why authorities arrested Polanski now given that the director has routinely traveled throughout Europe, including Switzerland, without incident.
Based in Paris, he spent long stretches in Berlin and Prague filming movies, oversaw theater productions in Vienna and skied at his chalet in Gstaad.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Now there’s a big “oops!”
MEMO TO SELF: Never ski at unpronounceable chalets!
Switzerland, being hounded by the Taxman, has handed Bummer a tiger by the tail.
Zakly!
When I think LA prosecutors, Gollum from Lord of the Rings comes to mind.
I learned the proper pronunciation of Gstaad from the movie “Trading Places.”
Pawnbroker: Burnt my fingers, man.
Louis Winthorpe III: I beg your pardon?
Pawnbroker: Man, that watch is so hot, it’s smokin’.
Louis Winthorpe III: Hot? Do you mean to imply stolen?
Pawnbroker: I’ll give you 50 bucks for it.
Louis Winthorpe III: Fifty bucks? No, no, no. This is a Rouchefoucauld. The thinnest water-resistant watch in the world. Singularly unique, sculptured in design, hand-crafted in Switzerland, and water resistant to three atmospheres. This is *the* sports watch of the ‘80s. Six thousand, nine hundred and fifty five dollars retail!
Pawnbroker: You got a receipt?
Louis Winthorpe III: Look, it tells time simultaneously in Monte Carlo, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rome, and Gstaad.
Pawnbroker: In Philadelphia, it’s worth 50 bucks.
Louis Winthorpe III: Just give me the money.
Louis Winthorpe III: [looking in display case] How much for the gun?
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