"You know what? The man is dead," responded Sandi Gibbons, a Los Angeles County district attorney spokeswoman over the phone. "None of this erases the fact that Mr. Polanski pleaded guilty to a felony crime and he chose to flee the United States prior to being sentenced."
It's ironic that Polanski's career took off with 1974's "Chinatown," a film about moneyed interests corrupting Los Angeles criminal justice system. Polanski's villain was an older man with moneybags and taste for a young thing.
Now his fans advocate special treatment -- the evasion of punishment for the new-money maven who could afford to jet off to France to avoid punishment -- while the full weight of the law falls on those without his money.