Polanski Documentary Controversial

A new documentary on HBO aired on Monday night entitled Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. It posed the question as to whether the judge that presided over his case in 1997, that would have had Polanski back in the U.S., required it to be televised.

The documentary originally aired at Cannes and concluded with a statement that an agreement had been made that would have gotten rid of the case with no further jail time. The Los Angeles Superior Court judge insisted that the hearing be televised and that scared Polanski off because of what would have become a media circus, reported Reuters.

On Wednesday, Polanski's representative in the case, Douglas Dalton, as well as the former deputy district attorney, Roger Gunson, released a joint statement contradicting the version that HBO aired that said there was only to be an open court, reported Reuters. The two said that Judge Larry Paul Fidler was willing to end Polanski's probation without anymore jail time as long as the hearing was aired on TV.

Dalton recalled to Reuters, "Fidler would require television coverage at the proposed hearing." Director of the District Attorney's Specialized Prosecutions Bureau, Richard Dalton, told Reuters, "There was no requirement that the hearing be televised. While additional prison time would have been unlikely if Mr. Polanski's conduct has been favorable over the last three decades, prison always remains a possibility."