Comments (18) Jump to Comments Form

1. 

   cabrobst said, 21 days ago

   No free pass to the rich and famous.

2. 

   Lewreader said, 21 days ago

   But Hollywood types say he should go free.

3. 

   3hourtour said, 21 days ago

   ..thank God nothing like this ever happens in politics..

4. 

   nighthawks said, 21 days ago

   I just love stories with happy endings

5. 

   donaldo said, 21 days ago

   for once I disagree with Bolling here. Don’t forget the girl doesn’t want to press charges at all.

6. 

   Magpie54 said, 21 days ago

   As I understand, she’s backing away from the charges because of the horrific strain it would put on her and her family - can you imagine what a godawful media circus it would be? Lately we’ve been watching “reality” stars self destruct, and those are people who WANT us watching their every move. Imagine the life of an unassuming private person waking up to broadcast trucks in the front yard everyday. It’s our - the publics - gruesome fascination with this stuff that prevents her from pursuing the charges.

7. 

   Chikuku said, 21 days ago

   The girl in question is a fully grown up woman after all this time. But besides the fact that she was only 13 at the time, Polansky gave her alcohol and a pill to make her more cooperative.

   Roman should have pleaded temporary insanity brought about by the horrible murder of his wife Sharon Tate.

   Charles Manson should be executed. What about a Proposition in California to change the State Constitution to make his execution possible?

8. 

   webpilgrim said, 21 days ago

   Apparently for Polanski, time heals all anuses.

9. 

   MatureCanadian said, 21 days ago

   Absolutely wonderful. Sarcasm at its finest. You and Wiley should get together sometime.

10. 

    Dypak said, 21 days ago

    Let’s just hope DavidDow doesnt read Tom.

    Great comic, wonderful irony.

    -donaldo
    Don’t forget, we don’t prosecute criminals so the victim can get revenge. Society prosecutes criminals to protect itself. We can’t let criminals walk simply because it makes the victim uncomfortable. What the media needs to do is control itself and not consume the victim or the victims family.

11. 

    rainman5353 said, 20 days ago

    Pay attention! The victim doesn’t press criminal charges, the state does, so she can’t “back away”. It is not her prerogative.
    He did not flee prosecution, he was already convicted (confessed his guilt).
    He fled sentencing. Therefore he has been tried, convicted, and sentenced, but is yet to serve his time.

12. 

    fritzoid said, 20 days ago

    Technically, he wasn’t tried. He entered a guilty plea.

13. 

    rainman5353 said, 19 days ago

    Did he make a court appearance at something called a “trial”?

14. 

    Ash said, 19 days ago

    Rainman, he pleaded guilty. But nicely put Dypak and rainman. The victims are no longer responsible for pressing charges if something has been done. If you come in beaten up and you say your husband did it then it’s the burden then of law enforcement. I hope they put his a$% under the jail.

15. 

    Ash said, 19 days ago

    Mr. Bolling, best comic I’ve read in ages.

16. 

    fritzoid said, 19 days ago

    A guilty plea would usually means that no trial takes place. He would have appeared before the court for an arraignment hearing, to officially state the charges and ask for his plea; had he pled “Not Guilty”, a trial date would have been set for some time in the future, and all sorts of pre-trial proceedings would commence.

    Pleading “Guilty” means that they can skip right on to sentencing, but a sentencing hearing would still have been set for a future date. It was while waiting for sentencing that he skipped bail.

    My position is that I DO think Polanski should be extradited, but I don’t think he should be either treated particularly leniently nor “made an example of.” He should be sentenced for that to which he originally WOULD have been sentenced; the charge of unlawful intercourse with a juvenile (or whatever the exact wording was under the laws). There’s a lot of latitude in sentencing, and in these cases it CAN be appropriate for the victim’s wishes to be taken into consideration. Also, penalties should be added for his skipping bail, but that’s a separate issue.

    The question of what should be appropriate sentencing is complicated. Since in his years as a fugitive, Polanski has NOT lived the life of a rampaging sex fiend, I think that should also be taken into consideration; to the extent that one of the purposes of incarceration is “rehabilitation”, that seems to me to be moot here.

    If the U.S. Gov’t could give Polanski a guarantee that he wouldn’t be crucified, I would advise him (were he to ask my advice) to stop fighting extradition. Come back, serve a couple of years, get it over with. If, after he does his time, he still ends up getting deported so he’s never allowed back, well, that’s the situation he’s been in for 30 years anyway.

17. 

    straytski said, 17 days ago

    The lowlifes that came out and supported this scum. The Hollywood Left are a cesspool and their views on anything should never be listened to.

18. 

    DavidDow said, 16 days ago

    Sorry, Dypak, but TOM THE DANCING BUG is one of my bookmarks. I guess that I have been behind, though. This strip is almost over.

    Like all the strips that discuss this case, none provides all the facts: Thirty-two years ago, Roman Polanski, widowed, age 44, took some photos of Samantha Gailey, age thirteen, because the girl, her mother, & Polanski all thought that the girl might have a career in modeling or in the movies. After spending some hours posing & photographing, Polanski & Gailey drank champagne, took Quaaludes, & had sex.
    After this event, Polanski & Gailey, old enough to be married in California with her parent’s permission, never had sex again.

    The state of California arrested Polanski and kept him in Chino State Prison for 42 days “for observation”. Then, California charged him with statutory rape, unlawful sex with a minor, and supplying a minor with a controlled substance. Polanski entered a plea agreement, pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor with the stipulation that he would serve probation for an unspecified length of time but no more time in prison. The judge voided the plea bargain and told Polanski’s attorneys that he would sentence Polanski to prison and then to be deported. Thus, Polanski moved to France, where he is also a citizen—in effect deporting himself.

    In 1988, Gailey, age 24, sued Polanski, and they settled the lawsuit out of court in 1993. In 2009, Gailey, now Geimer, filed to have all charges against Polanski dismissed. Judge Peter Espinoza, who heard a filing of the same sort by Polanski’s lawyers, stated that the original judge committed misconduct by having a private audience with a district attorney who wanted Polanski made an example of.