Roman Polanski’s statutory case transcripts, which the fugitive director had claimed could show court misconduct, will now be released, Los Angeles authorities announced on Tuesday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon stated that his office “found it to be in the interest of justice to accede to the unsealing of these transcripts.
Statement
“In a statement, Gascon added that the courts had called this case “one of the longest-running sagas in California criminal justice history.
“This office has fought against disclosing information that the public and victim have a right to know for years.
The contents of the transcripts are unknown, although they do contain evidence from Roger Gunson, a former deputy district attorney who handled Polanski’s case in the beginning.
Polanski, a French-Polish director, was detained in 1977 after Samantha Gailey, then 13 years old, accused him of forcingly sodomizing her and plying her with narcotics and champagne.
Prosecutors reduced the most serious accusations in a plea agreement with Polanski, who admitted guilt for having illicit sexual contact with a minor, in order to spare the child a trial.
He underwent a psychological evaluation while serving a 42-day prison sentence. Polanski fled to France, where he currently resides, when it appeared that the judge, Laurence Rittenband, was about to change his mind and impose a significantly longer prison sentence.
The filmmaker of “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Chinatown” hasn’t been back in the country since and has been playing a long-running cat and mouse game with authorities trying to extradite him in front of a divided world between continued indignation and forgiveness for his actions.
Polanski initially asked for the transcripts to be released “several years ago,” according to Gascon’s assertion, in order to “launch an inquiry into possible court malpractice.
“The way that Polanski was first treated by the prosecution was also hailed by Gascon as “exceptional,” and he said that his office was dedicated to “transparency and accountability for all in the justice system.
“According to The Hollywood Reporter, two journalists, not Polanski, made the fresh request to see the transcripts.In 1997, Gailey officially pardoned Polanski and declared that the way in which she was treated by the media and the legal system was worse than the original offense.
She has also demanded that the transcripts be made public in the past.
The statement’s conclusion, however, reads: “Polanski remains a fugitive from justice and should present himself to the Los Angeles County Superior Court to be sentenced.
“Polanski, who is now 88, has also been charged with other infamous sex offenses by several women in more recent years. The allegations are false, and the statute of limitations has passed. He disputes them.