Jury Retires In Polanski Case
The judge in Roman Polanski's libel case against Vanity Fair magazine told jurors Thursday they should not focus on the filmmaker's lifestyle as they deliberate the case.
Justice David Eady told the 12 jurors while much had been made in the weeklong trial about Polanski's relaxed attitude toward casual sex, this is not the issue in the case. Testimony in the trial indicated Polanski admitted to having casual sex while married and having sex with more than one woman at a time.
"We're not here to judge Mr. Polanski's personal lifestyle," Eady said.
Eady instructed jurors after lawyers delivered closing arguments in the sensational case, which focused on a 2002 Vanity Fair article that alleged Polanski made a pass at a model in a New York City restaurant while en route to the funeral of his wife, actress Sharon Tate, who was killed by followers of cult leader Charles Manson.
The article said Polanski put his hand on the woman's thigh and promised her: "I will make another Sharon Tate out of you."
Polanski's lawyer, John Kelsey-Fry, said Polanski had been "monstrously libelled for the sake of a lurid anecdote."
Polanski, 71, the director of Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown and The Pianist, has called the story "an abominable lie" that "dishonours my memory of Sharon."
The lawyer for Vanity Fair, Tom Shields, told the jury Polanski's "law of morality" knows no rules - "only violations of civilized conduct which, it appears, can be readily excused."
The magazine's publisher now accepts the incident did not happen before Tate's funeral but said it was about two weeks later. It maintains the article is substantially true.
Shields said even if his defence case fails, Polanski should not receive any damages because the director's reputation has already been ruined beyond repair.
Polanski, who won an Oscar in 2003 for his Holocaust drama The Pianist, has lived in France since fleeing child-sex charges in the United States in 1978. He was unwilling to go to Britain for fear of extradition but has been allowed to testify by video.
The jury is expected to return Friday to consider their verdict.