A retired Los Angeles prosecutor has said a judge privately told lawyers he would renege on a promise and imprison Roman Polanski for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
FILE - Director Roman Polanski appears at an international film festival, where he promoted his film,"Based on a True Story," in Krakow, Poland, on May 2, 2018. A court transcript shows a U.S. judge planned to renege on a plea deal and imprison Polanski for having sex with teen in 1977.
“The judge had promised him on two occasions ... something that he reneged on,” Gunson said. “So it wasn’t surprising to me that, when he was told he was going to be sent off to state prison ... that he could not or would not trust the judge.”Polanski’s victim testified before a grand jury that during a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson’s house in March 1977 when the actor wasn’t home, Polanski gave her champagne and part of a sedative, then forced her to have sex.
“He’s waiting to see what happens next,” Braun said. “This is the first chance that he’s really had in this case.”Braun wants Polanski to be sentenced without having to appear in court because he fears he'll be arrested and jailed as a fugitive if he returns to the U.S. Prosecutors have previously rejected that request, saying Polanski needs to show up in Los Angeles Superior Court to resolve the matter.
Judge Laurence Rittenband, now deceased, had been swayed by publicity in the case and changed his mind several times about the punishment Polanski should face, Braun said. After six weeks of evaluation in prison, Polanski was released with a recommendation he only serve probation, Braun said. “There’s certainly an inference of impropriety if he keeps making an offer and taking it off the table,” Goldman said. “Judges are supposed to be more courageous than that.”The victim, Samantha Geimer, has long advocated that the case be dismissed or that Polanski be sentenced in absentia. She went so far as as to travel from her home in Hawaii to Los Angeles five years agoof a crime as well as the perpetrator.
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