May 21, 2010
Defense reiterates request for sealed transcripts in Polanski case
In court papers filed Friday, Roman Polanski's attorneys said transcripts they want unsealed will bolster their contention that Los Angeles County prosecutors relied on "false statements'' in seeking the filmmaker's extradition from Switzerland in his 1970s teen sex case.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza is scheduled on Monday afternoon to hear a request from attorneys Chad S. Hummel and Bart Dalton for transcripts of the closed-door testimony of Roger Gunson, a now-retired prosecutor who was assigned to Polanski's case for 25 years.
"Unfortunately, the Swiss are not justified in their assumption that the district attorney in this case has accurately and fully presented the facts relevant to extradition. The opposite is demonstrably true, and the Gunson testimony would definitively demonstrate that in the form of admissible evidence,'' Polanski's lawyers wrote in their latest filing.
The defense attorneys contend that an affidavit from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office to Swiss authorities in support of Polanski's extradition "relies on false and materially incomplete statements which the district attorneys knows are false and materially incomplete.''
In his response to the request, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren wrote last week that another Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Mary Lou Villar, has "appropriately denied'' requests on three previous occasions for transcripts of Gunson's testimony.
"Moreover, the defendant, lacking both case law and facts in support of his position, and obviously running out of options to avoid extradition, makes completely baseless and reckless allegations apparently orchestrated as part of a public relations campaign, rather than being premised on any legal or factual foundation,'' Walgren wrote in his 14-page response.
The 76-year-old filmmaker -- who won an Oscar in 2002 for directing "The Pianist'' -- was arrested in Switzerland last September in connection with his criminal case in Los Angeles.
He was placed under house arrest at his ski chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad after being released from custody in December.
Los Angeles County prosecutors have disputed the defense's claim that the District Attorney's Office misrepresented information to Swiss officials, with Walgren contending in his filing that the prosecution's affidavit in support of Polanski's extradition is "absolutely truthful and accurate in every regard.''
Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13- year-old girl. He fled to France in 1978 before he could be sentenced, after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laurence Rittenband indicated he was going to reject a plea agreement under which the director would have been able to stay out of prison.
In January, Espinoza denied Polanski's request to be sentenced without returning to the United States.
In a ruling last month, an appellate court panel found that Polanski had "failed to demonstrate'' that the judge lacked the discretion to turn down his request.
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