Yahoo News Roman Polanski rape case won't be dismissed by US judge
Roman Polanski has been denied his attempt to have his 1977 case for the rape of a 13-year-old girl dismissed.
In an order issued on Friday (August 18), Judge Scott M Gordon also denied an attempt to unseal the 2010 testimony of former Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson, which Polanksi's legal representatives insist includes a scrapped agreement that puts the case in a different light.
"I'm not surprised but I am disappointed," Polanski's lawyer Harland Braun told Deadline after the order was issued.
Polanski has been living in exile from the US since 1977, when he fled the country rather than face sentencing over allegations that he sexually assaulted 13-year-old Samantha Geimer.
He admitted that he raped Geimer in 1977 and after spending 42 days in jail, he fled the United States to Paris, fearing a lengthy prison term.
[Geimer and Polanski]
In the 10-page order issued this week, Judge Gordon said that that Polanski is a "fugitive" who "refuses to comply with court orders" and whose conduct "continues to harm [Geiser] and compounds the trauma of the sexual assault committed against her that gave rise to this case".
Polanski has spent the last 40 years trying to avoid being extradited to the US. In 2010, he was held for nine months under house arrest in Switzerland and later taken into custody again briefly in 2014 in his native Poland.
Polanski's legal team have continued to contest the extradition order, with their case being bolstered earlier this year when Samantha Geimer petitioned a US judge to dismiss the case in order to bring her closure.
Earlier this week, Polanski denied fresh allegations of historic sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s after a woman offered to testify against the director in the case should he be retried in the US.
The woman is claiming that she was raped by Polanski back in 1973 when she was just 16 years old. California's statute of limitations prevents her from pursuing charges in her own case.
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