>The same judge had already abused his discretion
>by arranging to have Polanski held in maximum
>security for 42 days before his conviction,
>supposedly for a "psychological evaluation" that
>should have taken a day or two.
This is wrong and makes me suspect this whole summary. Polanski was sent for this evaluation after he pleaded guilty. This is routine. It's in the California penal code and can be up to 90 days (see below).
One of the best summaries I've read about the legal aspects is from David Thomson. This is from the Guardian a couple days ago but it sounds familiar and I think maybe it was in Thomson's Biographical Dictionary of Film even before Polanski was arrested the other day:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/sep/28/roman-polanski
The explanation comes quickly. It needs no more than a single paragraph. On 11 March 1977, Polanski was arrested in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire hotel by Detective Philip Vannatter (a cop who would figure in the OJ Simpson case). The Polish film director was charged as follows: giving Quaaludes to a minor; child molestation; unlawful sexual intercourse with that minor; rape by use of drugs; oral copulation; sodomy. The girl was 13, though Polanski would say that she looked older.
The rape had occurred in the house of Jack Nicholson, a place Polanski used as he wished. In the legal negotiations that followed, Polanski never denied the charges, but they were dismissed under the terms of the plea bargain by which he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor. With a view to proper sentencing, the judge – Laurence Rittenband – ordered that Polanski be confined for psychiatric examination. That led to 42 days' confinement in the Chino State Prison over the 1977-8 period. In that examination Polanski was passed as fit to stand trial. It was the director's understanding that the 42 days in Chino would satisfy punitive instincts. There might be a fine, too, but he would be freed. Then, just before sentencing, Polanski heard that Rittenband was ready to break the agreement – because he feared public criticism of a verdict that seemed too lenient on Polanski. And so, fearing further imprisonment, Polanski broke bail and flew by British Airways to London in February 1978. He has never been back to the US.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=3422887604+1+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve
1203.03. (a) In any case in which a defendant is convicted of an offense punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, the court, if it concludes that a just disposition of the case requires such diagnosis and treatment services as can be provided at a diagnostic facility of the Department of Corrections, may order that defendant be placed temporarily in such facility for a period not to exceed 90 days, with the further provision in such order that the Director of the Department of Corrections report to the court his diagnosis and recommendations concerning the defendant within the 90-day period.