Fame and Power over Justice?

Roman Polanski is a Polish-French film director, producer, and actor who was born August 18, 1933. He was convicted of having sexual intercourse with a 13 year old girl by the name of Stephanie Geimer on March 1977. After numerous trial cases, Polanski fled the country the day of his final sentence, causing controversy on the case and justice.

Roman Polanski is famous for directing a variety of films, such as Rosemary´s Baby (1968), Chinatown (1974), and The Tenant (1976). He was also known for his interest in young women, he was romantically linked to Barbara Lass when she was at the age of 19 and he was 26, Sharon Tate whom was a victim of Charles Mason Klan, at the age of 25 and he was 35, Nastassja Kinski whom was between 15 and 17 when she started dating Polanski at the age of 43. Polanski is currently married to Emmanuelle Seigner, 44, whom she has two children with Polanski, now, 77.

On March 10, 1977, Polanski, at the age of 43, was arrested for the sexual assault of Stephanie Geimer, then, 13 years old. The assault took place at Polanski friend´s Jack Nicholdohome, where Polanski was to have a photo shoot with Stephanie for Vogue magazine. In Stephanie Geimer´s statements, Polanski drugged her and proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her, whereas Polanski´s statement proceeds to state that Samantha was consensual to his every move.

Geimer´s attorney arranged a plea bargain in order to protect her client from attending court, considering she was a minor.Polanski had agreed to plea guilty on ¨engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor¨. Judge Rittenbad privately discussed the plea bargain arrangement with Polanski´s attorney, where it was stated that Polanski would die if he were to attend a state prison, and he wouldn´t want to be held responsible for such event. Instead, Polanski would attend a 90-day probation in state prison where he would receive an MSDO psychiatric evaluation, if his evaluation went well the trial would be over. After completing only 42 days of probation, Polanski was released and this outraged the media and society, so Judge Rittenbad had another plan in mind, Polanski would go back to jail.

Polanski´s actions during the time of his trial were also not tolerated by Judge Rittenbad. During Oktoberfest, Polanski was photographed in between two women, which to Rittenbad, was an insult to his face.

It was later stated that Judge Rittenbad would change his mind on Polanski´s sentence, and his attorneys were starting to doubt the Judge. Polanski purchased a one-way ticket to France and fled the day of his trial. To this day, the case remains unresolved.

Conviction is a film based on a true story about a man, Kenneth Waters, who was convicted of the murder of a woman,Katharina Brow, in 1983, and sentenced to a life with no possibility for parole. Kenneth´s sister, Betty Ann Waters, pursues to free him by going back to school and becoming his lawyer.  Kenneth Waters is portrayed as a troubled young kid who is close to his sister, but both, are always getting into trouble, him the most. His mother is an unstable woman who is not fit to take care of them. Katherina Reitz Brow was stabbed to death in her Ayer, Massachusetts home. She was stabbed more than 30 times and her head had been ¨bashed against the wall until her brains came out¨. Waters was a prime suspect as he was the neighbor and had a troubled past. After finding no evidence against him he was let go. Two years later, he was arrested after two witnesses testified against him, both ex-girlfriends. Waters´ alibi was that he was working at Park Street Diner, but his punch card was never found so it could not be used as a solid alibi. Although workers claimed his alibi was true, he was brought to trial. During the hearing, the witnesses claimed Waters admitted to the death of Brow, and Waters was charged with the murder and armed robbery with no possibility of parole.

After years in prison, Betty Waters proved her brother´s innocence. It was stated that the DNA obtained from the police did not match her brother´s. The cop, who had arrested Ken, received a false lead from Robert Osborne, boyfriend of one of Ken´s ex-girlfriends. Robert was in it for the money and had his girlfriend go along with the lie. The cop who ¨once she has a lead, she doesn´t let it go¨, got both of the witnesses, took them to a hotel, and showed them the pictures of the deceased claiming they would be charged with accessory for murder and that it could happen to them at separate times.

Ken Waters was able to enjoy only 6 months of his freedom, due to a tragic accident which caused head trauma and internal bleeding.

The trial of Polanski is an example, and a personal opinion, on how fame could overdo power, or power can overdo justice. When reading the sentence provided to a man who slept with a 13 year old girl, what do you personally believe of his sentence and how the trial was handled? Do you still believe we can still see this today?

The trial of Ken Waters, was it fair how the authorities handled the situation? Was Ken Waters guilty of murder, an accomplice to murder, or innocent?

To suggest your personal views, Judith may be contacted at (judith@dusty.tamiu.edu)