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tazzygirl -> RE: Lousy Swiss…dumb assed French (7/12/2010 1:04:59 PM)
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quote:
In exchange, the judge agreed to drop the remaining charges and sentence him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. However, he was released after 42 days by an evaluator who deemed him mentally sound and unlikely to offend again. The judge responded by saying he was going to send Polanski back to jail for the remainder of the 90 days and that afterward he would ask Polanski to agree to a "voluntary deportation." Polanski then fled the country on the eve of his Feb. 1, 1978, sentencing.
The Swiss government's main argument concerned confidential testimony given on Jan. 26 by Roger Gunson, the Los Angeles attorney in charge of the original prosecution against Polanski. The Swiss asked for the transcript, but Washington rejected the request.
Freed because the US government would not give up that confidential testimony. Court and hospital records are quite clear. The Swiss decided not to get involved.
quote:
"We in Switzerland do not know, and that's why the government sought the transcript of Gunson," Cosandey said. "In extraditions, there are formalities that must be fulfilled. One is whether the person has already served his sentence."
Widmer-Schlumpf said this decision was not meant to excuse Polanski's crime, saying the issue was "not about deciding whether he is guilty or not guilty."
The government said extradition had to be rejected "considering the persisting doubts concerning the presentation of the facts of the case."
Beyond the legal confusion, Polanski's extradition was complicated and diplomatically sensitive because of Polanski's status as a cultural icon in France and Poland, and his history as a Holocaust survivor whose first wife was murdered by crazed followers of cult leader Charles Manson in California.
The bolded part adds more to the dynamic.... carrying much more weight than it should ever have.
The Swiss said.. prove it. The US declined to send the "confidential" transcript the Swiss demanded. The Swiss shrugged and let him go. They made no declaration of his innocence or guilt, even admitting they "did not know".
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