LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California appeals court on Wednesday ordered the release of certain documents in the thief’s case against famed director Roman Polanski, who has been with the giant since pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl for decades. it does, a California prosecutor said.
The court ordered the opening of the transcript of the conditional testimony of Roger Gunson, who was the original prosecutor in the Los Angeles County case, the county attorney’s office said.
However, it was not promptly reported when the documents would be made public.
A call seeking comment from Polanski’s Los Angeles agent, Jeff Berg, went unanswered Wednesday night.
But Harland Braun, Polanski’s attorney, told the Los Angeles Times that his consumer was “delighted” with the Second District Court of Appeals’ order.
Polanski, 88, who won the Academy Award for Best Director for “The Pianist” in 2003, remains at large after pleading guilty in 1977 to illegal with a minor and fleeing the United States for France on the eve of his conviction the following year. .
France, Switzerland and Poland have rejected extradition to the United States and it continues to be celebrated in Europe, winning praise and running with great protagonists.
However, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expelled him in 2018.
At Polanski’s trial, the victim said that at a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson’s home in March 1977, when the actor was not at home, Polanski gave her champagne and a component of a sedative and then forced her to have sex despite her objections. The woman said she didn’t fight him because she was afraid of him, but her mother called the police.
But in a 2010 interview with CNN, the victim, Samantha Geimer, said she believed the ruling in Polanski’s case had been to deceive him.
In 2017, Geimer gave the impression in a Los Angeles court to ask for a sentence to end the case, calling it a “40-year sentence” imposed on her and the director. The request was denied.
Polanski has long argued that there was judicial misconduct in his case. In 2010, a Los Angeles court collected Gunson’s sealed testimony about his memories of promises he made to the director through the 1977 sentencing.
Polanski argued that Gunson’s transcript would show that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Laurence Rittenband sought Polanski to serve only a 90-day trial in state prison after pleading guilty. another 48 days and Polanski fled.
Polanski’s lawyers had long sought to uncover this testimony, believing the transcript might be sufficient for his case.
Braun told the Times that after obtaining the transcript, he will request that Polanski be sentenced to a sentence served, which could allow him to return to the United States without worrying about arrest.
Geimer, who pushed for an investigation into the alleged judicial misconduct, had also called for the transcript to be released and, in a letter last month, suggested that the prosecutor review the case from a new perspective.
The office had opposed the publication of the for years, but rescinded its objection earlier this week, saying it listened to Geimer’s wishes.
“Finally, after decades of waiting, the victim was given his request and his voice was heard,” the prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
“We are very pleased that the Court of Appeals has agreed with the victim and our lack of transparency,” District Attorney George Gascon said in the statement. “We hope this gives him some reassurance that he will eventually be able to end this decades-long dispute. “
According to the statement from the prosecutor’s office, Geimer reported on the resolution and thanked for it, saying, “It’s never too late to do the right thing. “