..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

March 11, 2003

MCN Perspective On The News
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The Geimer Grand Jury Transcript
In The Case Against Roman Polanski

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The transcripts of Samantha Geimer's grand jury transcript in the Roman Polanski case hit the web today. It is news, so Movie City News is obliged to offer it to you.

The entire event is troubling. No matter which way you cut it, a 43-year-old professional filmmaker had sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. Beyond legality, the moral and ethical issues are overwhelming.

Words and actions have been used as tools on every side of this issue. Was it "sex with a minor" or "child rape?" Had Polanski "plied her with Champagne and a Quaalude" or did the child choose to have champagne when offered it rather than asking for the juice or soft drinks that she saw in the refrigerator and did she take a third of a Quaalude knowing more about the drug's effect than Polanski, who seems to have stumbled on the single tablet in Jack Nicholson's bathroom? Was Polanski a predator who cleverly inquired whether Ms. Geimer was "on the pill," and asking her, "When did you last have your period?" or was he a guy who stupidly, suddenly considered birth controls issues while actually in the midst of penetration?

People have to answer these questions for themselves. The issue can provoke hours of debate, even between people whose feelings about what happened are not far separated.

None of this, however, makes the appearance of this transcript during the heat of an Oscar campaign any less suspicious.

For 25 years, this transcript was sealed. Suddenly, it was "quietly unsealed four months ago by a Los Angeles judge." Why? In who's interest? By who's urging?

The Smoking Gun, which characterizes Polanski in as harsh a light as possible, does not say. Nor does it name the judge who unsealed this document.

The mystery of Samantha Geimer's sudden reappearance just a few weeks ago remains a mystery. The least conspiracy minded still believe that she was just using Larry King Live and the Los Angeles Times as tools to get rid of all the pesky questioners who turn up whenever a Polanski film gets a lot of attention. Others feel that Focus Features, which has done everything it can to assure the media that it was not behind her appearance, brought her out to combat anti-Polanski feelings. Others still, citing the fact that her appearance got a higher percentage of people discussing Polanski's perversions, suggest that Miramax was behind the media tour.

The answer to that mystery will someday be part of history. The truth is that the gambit seems to have retrenched those who were against Polanski's nomination as well as those who were willing to consider it and had little effect on those still deciding.

The timing of the release of this transcript a week before Oscar ballots are due in and just days after Martin Scorsese did not win the DGA Award and neither Miramax film won at the WGA, is very, very suspicious. The likelihood is that Chicago is the sure winner at the Academy Awards. But the only real threat, by the consensus of serious Oscar watchers, seems to be The Pianist. And this graphic description of the events of that evening, told by Ms. Geimer, under the supervision of the District Attorney, untested by cross-examination and presented by a prosecutor who soon after offered Polanski a sentence of time-served, could siphon off enough votes to remove even the minor threat.

If you choose to discuss this issue, we hope that you will read these transcripts and take all the circumstances into consideration.

Smoking Gun's Introduction
Transcript Pages 1-18
Transcript Pages 19-36