Roman Polanski: Court rejects appeal to dismiss case

A California court has denied director Roman Polanski’s petition to have his 1978 sex case dismissed, according to the Associated Press.

In Los Angeles, the California 2nd District Court of Appeal said Monday that it would not grant Polanski’s request. “We encourage all participating parties to do their utmost to ensure that this matter now draws to a close in a manner that fully addresses the issues of due process and fundamental fairness raised by the events of long ago,” the Court said in its opinion. Polanski’s lawyers had argued that alleged judicial misconduct in the late 1970s, when Polanksi was originally tried for having unlawful sex with a minor female, should be grounds for dismissal. The court did not agree. “The passage of more time before this case’s final resolution will further hamper the search for truth and the delivery of any appropriate relief, and it will also prolong the agony that the lack of finality in this matter continues to cause [the victim],” the opinion states.

Polanski, who directed such cinematic classics as Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby, had fled the US for Europe in 1978 on the eve of his sentencing, and had remained a fugitive until his recent arrest in Switzerland. He is currently under house arrest in his Swiss chalet.