Polanski must be present to request dismissal of charges, prosecutor says

A prosecutor Tuesday all but dared Roman Polanski to return to the United States, arguing in court papers that the fugitive filmmaker’s request for dismissal of a 1977 child-sex case cannot proceed without his presence.

“Should Mr. Polanski feel that he was treated unfairly after he pleaded guilty to the statutory rape of a child, he should surrender to the court’s jurisdiction so that the allegations may be properly litigated,” Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. David Walgren wrote in papers contending that a judge should deny the request.

Polanski fled the country 31 years ago in advance of his sentencing on a charge of unlawful intercourse with a minor. He acknowledged having intercourse with a 13-year-old aspiring model during a photo session at actor Jack Nicholson’s house.

Polanski’s attorneys filed a request last month asking for dismissal of the charge “in the interests of justice” based on what they described as egregious misconduct by a prosecutor and the judge handling the case.

Walgren wrote that the court is barred from probing the allegations of misconduct by “common sense” and the long-standing legal doctrine of fugitive disentitlement, summarized by the prosecutor as “a fugitive should not be able to call upon the resources of the courts he avoids.”

Polanski’s attorneys have suggested that he would not attend a Jan. 21 hearing in front of Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza.

Polanski, now 75 and living in France with his wife and children, would face immediate arrest upon arrival on U.S. soil.

In a 17-page filing accompanied by hundreds of pages of three-decade-old grand jury testimony, Walgren gave a lengthy recounting of the crime, including many unflattering details of Polanski’s behavior toward the victim.

According to the document, the girl pleaded with Polanski to stop throughout the encounter, saying, “Keep away” and “No. Come on. Stop it.” The papers quote him as warning her after the incident not to tell her mother, and musing, “You know, when I first met you I promised myself I wouldn’t do anything like this with you.”

In a statement, Polanski’s lawyers noted that the prosecutor’s filing did not address the misconduct allegations that are the basis for the director’s dismissal request.

On Monday, his attorneys filed papers asking Espinoza to hand the case to a judge from another jurisdiction because of what they said was bias by Los Angeles County Superior Court.

--

harriet.ryan@latimes.com