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Roman Polanski May Be Able to Return to U.S.
7-Jan-2009
Written by: Mic Mell
Lawyers are filing motions to have the 30-year-old charges of sex with a minor dropped.
Three decades ago, Roman Polanski was charged with sexual battery of a 13-year-old girl, a charge that had him flee to France, where he continues to live.
Prosecutors recently sent an email to him saying they will fight the dismissal of charges. The explicit email isn't fit to be reproduced, and included details of the event, where Polanski allegedly gave the girl pills and alcohol, and then had sex with her while she asked him to stop, "repeatedly."
The woman is now 44, and wants to see the charges dropped. She has told the press that she does not believe Polanski is a danger to society, and his 30-year exile has been payment enough for his crimes.
A recent HBO documentary, titled Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, suggested that there was misconduct by the prosecutors, and lawyers soon after filed a motion to have the charges dismissed, which would allow Polanski to return to the U.S.
L.A. County Deputy District Attorney David Walgren wrote to the court, "Should Mr. Polanski feel that he was treated unfairly . . . he should surrender to the court's jurisdiction so that the allegations may be properly litigated."
The L.A. prosecutors insist that since Polanski is a fugitive from justice, he must be present to have the charges dropped.
A hearing is now scheduled for January 21 which will require Polanski's physical presence, according to the court. Since the charges have not been dropped yet, he would be subject to arrest. His lawyers are adamant that they can represent him in the hearing.
At the time of the case in 1977, Polanski pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. The day he was to be sentenced, he fled the country.
As of now, Polanski does not intend to attend the hearing.
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