Samantha Geimer - The Girl - A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski

After Samantha’s mother made a police report, the police secured a warrant to search Polanski and his Beverly Wilshire Hotel room. Apparently after Polanski had taken some photographs of Samantha at Jacqueline Bisset’s and Jack Nicholson’s homes, he removed the used roll of film and put in a new one to take additional pictures. The police seized the camera with the unfinished roll still inside. The film in the camera was developed by the police department and printed. It’s almost comical to consider now, but the police department’s budget did not allow for the more expensive color processing. So you will see that two of the photographs in this book hereand hereare pretty awful black and whites. The negatives had considerable shading that gives the color its rich quality. In black and white, they just look murky. The police never recovered the first roll of film.

In the civil litigation, I demanded all photographs of Samantha. Polanski turned over the prints from that previously unseen first roll of film. But I believed there were more. What happened was this: In executing the search warrant, the police didn’t recognize the importance of a receipt/claim check from Sav-On Drugs’ photograph department. Years later, I was told that Polanski gave his lawyer the receipt, and they secured the printed roll of film and negatives from the drug store. During the civil suit, his lawyer had to turn those photos over to me. These photographs, important both legally and historically, would likely have never been discovered if not for the civil suit.

In 2008 California voters adopted Marsy’s Law, which amended the California Constitution to add a provision known as the Victims’ Bill of Rights. As described on the the California Attorney General’s website:

Marsy’s Law gives victims of crimes in California certain rights including:

1. To be treated with fairness and respect for his or her privacy and dignity, and to be free from intimidation, harassment, and abuse, throughout the criminal or juvenile justice process.

2. To be reasonably protected from the defendant and persons acting on behalf of the defendant.

3. To have the safety of the victim and the victim’s family considered in fixing the amount of bail and release conditions for the defendant.

4. To prevent the disclosure of confidential information or records to the defendant, the defendant’s attorney, or any other person acting on behalf of the defendant, which could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim’s family or which disclose confidential communications made in the course of medical or counseling treatment, or which are otherwise privileged or confidential by law.

5. To refuse an interview, deposition, or discovery request by the defendant, the defendant’s attorney, or any other person acting on behalf of the defendant, and to set reasonable conditions on the conduct of any such interview to which the victim consents.

6. To reasonable notice of and to reasonably confer with the prosecuting agency, upon request, regarding, the arrest of the defendant if known by the prosecutor, the charges filed, the determination whether to extradite the defendant, and, upon request, to be notified of and informed before any pretrial disposition of the case.

7. To reasonable notice of all public proceedings, including delinquency proceedings, upon request, at which the defendant and the prosecutor are entitled to be present and of all parole or other post-conviction release proceedings, and to be present at all such proceedings.

8. To be heard, upon request, at any proceeding, including any delinquency proceeding, involving a post-arrest release decision, plea, sentencing, post-conviction release decision, or any proceeding in which a right of the victim is at issue.

9. To a speedy trial and a prompt and final conclusion of the case and any related post-judgment proceedings.

These rights would have made an enormous difference in Samantha’s life, and in mine. They were in effect when Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in 2009—but just having these rights wasn’t enough. Steve Cooley, the Los Angeles District Attorney at the time of the arrest, was preparing to run for California State Attorney General (he won the Republican primary, then was narrowly defeated in the general election). He led the campaign to have Polanski extradited. He announced that his office was not going to abide by certain provisions of the Victims’ Bill of Rights. In addition, the courts, uncomfortable with the significant changes made by the Victims’ Bill of Rights, seemed, at the least, reluctant to enforce them and even unsure how to go about it. This was the first major legal event where the victim was asserting her rights. Samantha was expressing the view that enough is enough. She sought, with the defendant, a dismissal of the action.

I believe it is crucial to the administration of justice to give victims rights, but it’s not enough to just grant the rights; those rights must be enforced. It is important that the California courts acknowledge these new robust rights and enforce the Constitution consistent with the Court’s own oath.

Samantha Geimer is whole now. But it was a sad day for American justice when Roman Polanski felt compelled to flee because of the clear judicial malfeasance. And it’s been a series of sad days for Samantha because the judicial system has not fully, completely, and vigorously embraced and enforced the rights of victims.

The journey of sharing a story I never thought I’d want to tell has been a long one. And only made possible with the help of strangers who became friends, friends who became family, and family who are my heart. I must acknowledge the contributions of the following:

Lawrence Silver is so much more than my attorney; he’s been my protector, my collaborator, and my friend of thirty-five years. He has been there every step of the way. I’ve depended on his memory to tell my story, which in many ways is his story too. We are both deeply indebted to his assistant Wendy Lovgren, who has been invaluable to us both and to Mark Field, at Silver & Field.

Judith Newman, our cowriter, totally got me. She worked incredibly hard to help me put into words thoughts and feelings that had been percolating for so many years. She made what might have been a difficult process a pleasure.

Peter Borland is my dream of what an editor should be. He always supported what my story meant to me and believed in having it told the way I wanted to tell it. His efforts allowed us to get it right. Special thanks to Atria’s amazing publishing team, particularly Daniel Loedel, Felice Javit, Paul Olsewski, Diana Franco, Hillary Tisman, Isolde Sauer, Jeanne Lee, Jim Thiel, Dana Sloan, Lisa Keim, and Kimberly Goldstein—all led by my publisher, Judith Curr, who has been a true champion of this book from day one.

Christy Fletcher, Melissa Chinchillo, Mink Choi, Sylvie Greenberg, Rachel Crawford, the team at Fletcher & Company. And most especially my agent, Rebecca Gradinger. Rebecca gave me great guidance; she was instrumental in bringing the book to fruition, working hand in hand with everyone at Atria, and with me. Also, thanks to Kat Likkel, who was kind enough to send me to Rebecca, and to Craig Wolff, who helped get me started.

Retired assistant district attorney Roger Gunson. We weren’t always on exactly the same side, but we never doubted his integrity and goodness. He really stood above the rest and was there when we needed him.

Marina Zenovich, who in her film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired told a sensational story with incredible clarity and brilliance. Her film gave my mother a measure of peace and closure, and for that my gratitude is deep and unending.