Prosecutors Move to Reject Polanski Request

A 33-year-old sex case may be coming to a close soon. Roman Polanski, director of Chinatown and The Pianist, is now facing the ruling over his sex crime against a 13-year-old girl committed in 1977. The reason for long wait is because Polanski fled the country in 1978 and was only recently captured in Switzerland this past September 26.

Currently, the director is under house arrest in the ski resort of Gstaad until the California courts make a decision about his sentence.

Recently, defendants have asked that Polanski be sentenced in absentia, meaning that he wouldn’t have to come back to the U.S. for sentencing. If this is allowed by California’s 2nd District court of Appeal, then Polanski may avoid a forced return. Rejection however would mean that he would have to return to Los Angeles for sentencing.

Both the defense and prosecution have been going at it. The defense lawyers have been focusing on the supposed misconduct by a former judge who is now dead. Prosecutors on the other hand are saying that it’s a moot point due to said judge being dead and that the extradition treaty with the Swiss has been misinterpreted, meaning Polanski must return for sentencing.

The most ironic part about this whole situation is that Polanski was arrested at a film festival where he was supposedly going to receive a lifetime achievement award.