From our Late to the Party bureau:
The hardworking staff at Campaign Outsider has tried its level best to keep up with Roman Polanski-palooza, but this (via Sunday’s New York Times) had totally escaped us:
Mr. Polanski . . . charged with both rape and sodomy involving drugs . . . fled rather than face what was to have been a 48-day sentence after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor.
So he spent three decades on the lam to avoid a month-and-a-half in the sneezer?
Roman Polanski’s not just a rapist. He’s a moron.
UPDATE: As one splendid commenter informed the hardworking (but not enough) staff at Campaign Outsider:
No, he did not flee to escape a 48-day sentence. He was worried that the judge would not stick to the plea-bargained sentence and instead sentence him to up to 50 years:
http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2009/10/12/couples_retreat_tops_the_weekend_box_office/
It’s amazing the level of misinformation that floats around there about the case. Even the 50 year sentence belief itself might be hyperbole; the judge is no longer alive to provide independent corroboration.
The (not so) hardworking staff stands corrected.
Campaign Outsider 
He does not rise to the level of moron… he’s stuck in the less-on category.
Agreed on the moron assessment. But for different reasons: he’s a (statutory) rapist.
No, he did not flee to escape a 48-day sentence. He was worried that the judge would not stick to the plea-bargained sentence and instead sentence him to up to 50 years:
http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2009/10/12/couples_retreat_tops_the_weekend_box_office/
It’s amazing the level of misinformation that floats around there about the case. Even the 50 year sentence belief itself might be hyperbole; the judge is no longer alive to provide independent corroboration.