Free Roman. His lawyers say he will fight extradition and seek immediate release on bail. Both France and Poland are requesting for his release.

France's French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand says:

"In the same way that there is a generous America that we like, there is also a scary America that has just shown its face."

If you have a streaming Netflix account, the film Wanted and Desired is available for immediate viewing.

Once again, here's his motion to dismiss filed in 2008. Here's the victim's declaration.

Update: Here is the Motion to Dismiss (pdf)and the Victim's Declaration (pdf). If you aren't going to familiarize yourself with the facts of the case, please refrain from commenting.

The Swiss have arrested Roman Polanski on an outstanding warrant from California relating to his 1977 prosecution on a sexual assault charge. They were laying in wait, as they knew Polanski, who had always been allowed to freely travel to the country, was en route to accept an international film award. CNN has more here.

France is outraged. So am I. Polanski has lived in France since fleeing the U.S. in 1978 after the Judge, at the behest of a prosecutor not involved in the case, re-negged on a plea deal and was going to sentence Polanski to prison instead of the agreed upon time served in exchange for his guilty plea. [More...]

I'm always glad to see the feds exercise discretion and decline to prosecute someone, regardless of whether the person is someone whose views I agree with or not. Last week it was conservative blogger Sully, today it's exiled Hmong leader and former General Vang Pao.

Federal prosecutors dropped charges Friday against Vang Pao, the exiled Hmong general accused two years ago of plotting with a band of aging Central Valley expatriates to overthrow the communist regime in their homeland of Laos.

Vang Pao, 79, had been singled out as the alleged ringleader of the bizarre scheme to launch a coup -- reputedly with mercenaries armed with AK-47 assault rifles and Stinger missiles -- in the summer of 2007.

We need more statements like this please: [More...]

Over the weekend, I wrote about the trial New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate, accusing of assaulting his girlfriend with broken glass. Jury selection was to begin today. Monserrate has turned down a misdemeanor plea, and he and his girlfriend maintain the incident was an accident. (Which provoked some strong responses in the comments section.) Background on the case is here.

This morning, Monserrate's attorney waived the jury and trial will begin next week to the Court.

Joe Tacopina, Monserrate's attorney (disclosure: he's also a good friend) says he believes the judge can be fair. The NY Times reports Joe said " a jury consultant and polls had convinced the defense that Mr. Monserrate could not get a fair trial before a jury anywhere in the state." He also, according to the Daily News, noted the jury would have had to walk past a gathering of domestic violence protesters every day. Today, one held a sign with a rat featuring Monserrate's head on top. After court, Joe said:[More...]

Good luck, Joe! That's to my pal Joe Tacopina who is defending NY State Senator Hiram Monserrate against some ugly charges -- the state alleges he slashed his girlfriend's face with broken glass. Trial begins Monday.

Monserrate has turned down a misdemeanor plea deal, which would have allowed him to plead to reckless assault and keep his Senate seat. Why? Joe says he's innocent. (My earlier post on the case is here.)[More...]

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A federal judge criticizes the U.S. Attorney's office for not pursuing a pot possession charge against blogger Andrew Sullivan. Sullivan is a British citizen, and the prosecutors didn't want Sully to face immigration consequences.

Sully, who owns a house on Cape Cod, was caught smoking a joint on a federally owned beach, a petty offense under 36 C.F.R. § 2.35(b)(2), which prohibits possession of a controlled substance on National Park Service lands. He was issued a violation notice. The maximum penalty for the offense is a fine of $5,000, six months imprisonment, a $25 processing fee and a $10 special assessment.

Sully, like everyone charged with the offense in MA, had the option of posting $125.00 in collateral and consenting to its forfeiture in lieu of appearing in court. [More...]

Former NY Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty today to attempted possession and agreed to a two year sentence, of which he will serve 20 months. He is expected to begin serving the sentence on September 20, when he is offiically sentenced. His lawyer, Ben Brafman, said:

"This is a sad day because I think a very good man who is a brilliant athlete is going to unfortunately spend 20 months in prison when he had no intent to violate the law," Brafman said. "I give Plaxico a great deal of credit for accepting responsibility, recognizing that he had to accept responsibility. It was a hard decision in a case like this because as all of you know, the facts in this case have never been in dispute from day one. This is a perfect example in many ways of bad judgment sometimes has very terrible consequences, consequences far more severe than may be justified, in my view.

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Just another reason of why snitch testimony should require corroboration and is inherently unreliable in my view. The AP reports on a huge identity theft indictment returned today in New Jersey:

Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a Miami man with the largest case of credit and debit card data theft ever in the United States, accusing the one-time government informant of swiping 130 million accounts on top of 40 million he stole previously.

[Albert] Gonzalez is a former informant for the U.S. Secret Service who helped the agency hunt hackers, authorities say. The agency later found out that he had also been working with criminals and feeding them information on ongoing investigations, even warning off at least one individual, according to authorities.

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Sometimes cooperating with the Government doesn't pan out the way you thought it would. Bernie Madoff's CFO Frank DiPascali, Jr. learned that the hard way Tuesday.

After pleading guilty to an Information containing ten counts (pdf), carrying a possible sentence of 125 years in prison for which his sentencing guideline range would be life in prison, and agreeing to forfeit $170 billion (with a "b" as the judge pointed out) plus another $250 million, the issue of bail pending sentencing came up. The transcript of Tuesday's hearing is here (pdf).

DiPascali, 52, is cooperating, in hopes of avoiding a life sentence. He worked for Madoff for 30 years and admitted participating in the fraudulent scheme and cooking the books for 20 of them and lying to the SEC in 2006. He saw the light in December, 2008 -- 8 months ago. Since then, he's been a model citizen, reporting almost daily to meet with FBI agents and help them unravel what he and Bernie did. The Government agreed to recommend bail (pdf).

The Judge was having none of it. Not because he wanted to punish DiPascali, but because he doesn't trust the fraudster or his recent conversion to Truth, Justice and the American Way. [More...]

How did Cameron Douglas, charged with trafficking in multi-pound quantities of crystal meth, carrying penalties of 10 years to life, get released on a bond the conditions of which were home detention at his mother's New York apartment where he would be watched by a private security guard company?

It may not matter now. He's been transferred to the Metropolitan Correction Center for violating the terms of his bond.

His girlfriend, Kelly Sott, brought Cameron an electric toothbrush filled with heroin to his mother's apartment. Cameron had requested the toothbrush.

Sott is now charged with multiple offenses and has been ordered detained without bond. She has a court-appointed lawyer. The judge also ordered medical treatment for her as her lawyer advised she's a heroin user. The complaint against Sott is here (pdf). [More...]

Actor Michael Douglas' son, Cameron Douglas, arrested July 28 at a New York hotel for a methamphetamine offense, could be facing some serious time.

The federal complaint against him was released yesterday. I'm not linking to it because it still says "sealed" on the court's docket. (You can find it on the internet.) It contains two charges, both of which carry ten year mandatory minimum sentences if convicted.

The first count charges him with conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of ICE since 2006. The second count charges the July, 2009 transaction and involved 215 grams of ICE. Any mixture containing over 50 grams of ICE carries a 10 year mandatory minimum sentence. The maximum penalty is life. [More..]

Former New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress was indicted today on state charges of possession of a loaded pistol and reckless endangerment as a result of an incident in which he shot himself in the leg at a Manhattan nightclub. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence if convicted on two of the counts.

The grand jury rejected an indictment of Antonio Pierce, who according to police, took the gun back to his home in New Jersey and then arranged for it to be returned to Burress. The gun and an empty magazine were ultimately recovered at Burress' home.

The New York County Grand Jury heard from twenty-two witnesses, including PLAXICO BURRESS and Antonio Pierce, and considered 16 exhibits. BURRESS is charged with two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, one for possession of a loaded firearm not in his home or place of business, and one for possession of a loaded firearm with intent to use it unlawfully against another.

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