Roman Polanski’s victim has expressed her outrage to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office over the way she has been treated by legal authorities in a case that has now spanned 40 years. Meanwhile Polanski’s attorney has been trying to clear the way for the director to return to the United States without any required jail time.
In the letter dated April 21, Samantha Geimer (who was identified by Deputy district attorney Michele Hanisee as “the victim” and not specifically by name) wrote: “You and those have come before you have never protected me, you have treated me with contempt, using a crime committed against me to further your own careers.”
Hanisee told the court Tuesday morning that she received a letter from the victim but only paraphrased its contents. She revealed that Geimer wants the court to release the transcript of former DDA Roger Gunson’s testimony, which Polanski is also currently petitioning the court to do.
Geimer also claimed that she has been petitioning the DA’s office to investigate the allegations of misconduct in the Polanski case but that they have been ignoring her.
She continued, “I am outraged that you continue to cover up the misconduct that has occurred in this case, which began 40 years ago and continues today. I have spent 40 years with a boot on my neck filled by one powerful man after another, standing on a 13-year-old rape victim’s suffering to further their own purposes and to serve themselves, and sickened that it has now been filled by women.”
“You refuse to investigate the truth, you seek to hide testimony and defame those who produce relevant evidence and facts with accusations of criminal activity, facts you ignore to serve yourselves,” she wrote in the letter. “Victims and those who commit crimes are not just wins and losses, not just notches in your belts,” Geimer wrote. “We have all heard that there is special place in Hell for women who do not help other women, I hope it is true.”
She urged the DA’s office to “investigate the misconduct that occurred [which] fell upon deaf ears” because “the delay in addressing this matter has already removed one participant from the ranks of the available witnesses for an evidentiary hearing on the judicial and prosecutorial misdeeds that have been alleged here. The passage of more time before this case’s final resolution will further hamper the search for the truth and the delivery of any appropriate relief, and it will also prolong the agony that the lack of finality in this matter continues to cause Samantha Geimer.”
In response, Polanski’s lawyer Harland Braun told TheWrap, “I have never seen a victim so badly treated by the DA’s office. In Court today the DA even censored reading the e-mail to the Judge to eliminate the victim’s criticism of the DA’s office.”
The Best Director Oscar-winner (“The Pianist”) was indicted in 1977 on five charges, including “rape by use of drugs” and “furnishing a controlled substance to a minor,” after having sex with 13-year-old girl who had been brought over to his house for a photo shoot.
Polanski later reached a deal, pleading guilty to the lesser charge of “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.” As a condition of the deal, he was required to serve 90 days in state prison while undergoing psychiatric evaluation. He was released after only 42 days, but soon after fled the United States when it emerged that the presiding judge was considering a stiffer penalty.
Polanski says the judge, Judge Laurence Rittenband, reneged on the plea deal and insisted he serve up to 50 years in jail after the agreement was signed. Rittenband, who died in 1993, consistently denied these accusations.
In March, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey filed blistering court papers, denouncing Polanski‘s bid to avoid additional jail time if he returns to the U.S.
Then, earlier this month, “Judge Scott Gordon has issued his ruling in the matter of the People v. Roman Polanski following the hearing on March 20, 2017. Judge Gordon has ruled that Defendant’s motions and corresponding requests are denied,” a media advisory from the court noted.
Those requests include a February request sent by Polanski to a judge, which would have allowed Polanski to return to the United States without serving any additional jail time.
According to multiple media reports, Hanisee is facing a complaint at the State Bar that is accusing her of “unprofessional conduct and outright deliberate misrepresentation” by a former court officer.
Hanisee declined to comment on the letter.
See the full letter below.
District Attorney Lacey and Deputy District Attorney Hannisee:
Attached please find my correspondence to you dated over 3 years ago, January 24, 2014, along with your reply, dated over six weeks later, stating your “preparedness” to proceed if the case was again brought before you.
My wishes that you act on my behalf as the victim in this case to investigate the misconduct that occurred fell upon deaf ears, along with my request that you act upon the instructions of the Dec. 21, 2009, Opinion of the Second Appellate Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District. In particular, the aforementioned Opinion stated that the Court is deeply concerned that these allegations of misconduct have not been addressed.
Further, “Polanski’s allegations urgently require full exploration and then, if indicated, curative action for the abuses alleged here. Time continues to pass, and the delay in addressing this matter has already removed one participant from the ranks of the available witnesses for an evidentiary hearing on the judicial and prosecutorial misdeeds that have been alleged here. The passage of more time before this case’s final resolution will further hamper the search for the truth and the delivery of any appropriate relief, and it will also prolong the agony that the lack of finality in this matter continues to cause Samantha Geimer. We all exhort all participants in this extended drama to place the integrity of the criminal justice system above the desire to punish any one individual, whether for his offense or his flight.”
I have read the PEOPLES OPPOSITION TO: (1) RENEWED MOTION TO UNSEAL THE SWORN TESTIMONY OF DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY ROGER GUNSON; AND (2) MOTION TO RECONSIDER COURT’S APRIL 3, 2017 ORDER.
I am outraged that you continue to cover up the misconduct that has occurred in this case, which began 40 years ago and continues today. I have spent 40 years with a boot on my neck filled by one powerful man after another, standing on a 13 year old rape victim’s suffering to further their own purposes and to serve themselves, and sickened that it has now been filled by women.
You refuse to investigate the truth, you seek to hide testimony and defame those who produce relevant evidence and facts with accusations of criminal activity, facts you ignore to serve yourselves. I cannot help but see the irony of behavior that mimics the despicable behavior of our new administration in Washington, DC. So, I say to you, DO YOUR JOB! Stop making excuses, stop passing the buck, stop covering up what should be investigated and the very responsibility for which you were elected.
If you will not do the right, moral and legally required thing and stop covering up and withholding facts, I can only hope when the truth comes out as it always does, that you both are still around to have your reputations suffer as they should. You and those have come before you have never protected me, you have treated me with contempt, using a crime committed against me to further your own careers. You have treated Marci’s Law as you treat the victims who you are meant to protect, with disregard and callousness.
I know you will not help me, I know I mean nothing to you, I know the corruption in the Court and within your own department is something you have no interest in investigating. Because you are both part of it. I hope someday I will see the truth of all the egregious behavior I have had to tolerated at the hands of your predecessors and now you, will someday be known by all. Whether you feel any shame or not.
Victims and those who commit crimes are not just wins and losses, not just notches in your belts. Celebrity cases should not be misused by those like yourselves for some limelight and career advancement. We have all heard that there is special place in Hell for women who do not help other women, I hope it is true. I have no hope that you will DO YOUR JOB and investigate crimes committed by “your own”. So, I will settle for hoping that you, as we all do, will suffer the consequences for your actions and your dishonesty. This is just another sad day for what should be the greatest and most equitable judicial system in the world.
With deep regret that as a crime victim I cannot count on either of you and with sadness for all the others you will harm along your way “to the top”.
Samantha Geimer