Roman Polanski seeks to have prosecutor’s testimony unsealed
LOS ANGELES — Roman Polanski’s attorney has asked a Los Angeles judge to unseal testimony given by a former prosecutor who handled the fugitive director’s sexual assault case. It is Polanski’s latest bid to end the nearly 40-year-old case.
Polanski’s attorney Harland Braun wrote the judge a letter made public Thursday that he is seeking to unseal the letter because it is crucial to attempts to resolve Polanski’s case.
The Academy Award-winning director pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl but fled to France in 1978 when the now-deceased judge in the case suggested in private remarks that he would renege on a plea bargain and sentencing agreement.
Los Angeles prosecutors have repeatedly sought Polanski’s extradition but have been rebuffed by courts in Switzerland and Poland, two of the countries where the Oscar winner has been able to safely travel.