ROMAN POLANSKI CASE SIMILAR TO ONE OF MY CASES - SHOWS ABSOLUTE POWER OF JUDGE AND PROSECUTORS

Roman Polanski (AP)This weekend, the Swiss arrested Roman Polanski, for possible extradition to the United States. In 1977, Polanski was accused of raping a 13-year old at Jack Nicholson's house after getting her drunk and drugging her with a Quaalude. 

Polanski Case

Polanski's defense attorney and the prosecutor worked out a plea agreement whereby he would plead guilty of one of six counts, unlawful sexual intercourse, and he would spend 42 days in prison.  After he was released, Polanski learned the judge would not agree with the agreed-plea, sentence him to additional time to prison and require him deported. As a result, Polanski fled to France where he has lived ever since. Article here.

My case

I currently represent a young man who was accused of sexually assaulting a few girls at an Illinois high school where he was their assistant track coach.

His defense attorney and the state's attorney - THE state's attorney, not the assistants - agreed to reduce the felony charges to misdemeanor battery. Just days before the plea agreement was to be presented to the judge, the state's attorney handed the case over to one of her assistants. Then, on the day the plea was to take place in court, the assistant state's attorney pulled the entire deal.

Thus, my client was forced to take the case to trial, unless he wanted to plead guilty to felony charges, which would guarantee his deportation. While the jury was deliberating, my client fled the United States because he suspected he would be found guilty. Interestingly, he was found not guilty on felony charges of sexual assault against two of the three girls. See Article here.

The Power of the Judge and State's Attorney Often Leaves Defendant Powerless

In both my case and the Polanski case, two people who were accused of a crime and who had reached an agreement with the prosecutors, were forced out of our country.

A very typical response is, "Good thing he fled! He needs to leave our country and never come back!"

But that's not the issue.

The issue is that we have a system where prosecutors and defense attorneys are allowed to work out deals in cases where a defendant is probably guily of some sort of illegal conduct but the state's case is probably not airtight. Think about it: if the guy is totally innocent, the defense attorney will take it to trial. Same for the prosecution: if the guy is clearly guilty and he was found with "blood on his hands" then the prosecution will not offer any plea deals.

Granted, a deal is revocable at any time and a judge always has the discretion whether or not to go along with a plea agreement. I completely respect a judge's discretion.

But, it's unfair when a person, who is a legal resident of our country, is offered a deal and then it is revoked, leaving him with no other choice but to flee.

It did not make sense for the men to stay. If he stayed and did his time, he would have been deported after he fulfilled his prison sentence. So why do the time and waste all those years in prison when you cannot stay in the country after you've done your time? What would you do? You would leave before you were placed in prison and go to your native country if you are safe from extradition the United States.

Unfortunately, the deportation laws give no discretion for people who actually contribute to society. Polanski has contributed immensely to America. My client had received his college degree and had been accepted to a fine university for graduate school.

Both men were accused of committing crimes that were clearly flawed; hence, the reason for the plea agreements. Had the plea agreements been accepted in both cases, both men would still be living in America with their friends and family and would be able to contribute to our society.

www.xpunged.com and www.tamaraholder.com