Roman Polanski's lawyers attempt to dismiss sex charge
Roman Polanski's legal team look to overturn 31-year-old charge
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Wednesday, 03, Dec 2008 11:52
A 31-year-old charge of unlawful sex with a minor could be overturned by the legal team of filmmaker Roman Polanski, it has emerged.
The Oscar-winning director fled the US in 1978 to avoid a prison sentence after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
But citing the discovery of "extraordinary new evidence", the 75-year-old's representatives have filed a complaint with the Los Angeles superior court to have the charges dismissed.
The action comes after the release of a new documentary entitled Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which depicts then-deputy district attorney David Wells admitting to have discussed appropriate sentencing for the Polanski case with presiding judge Lawrence Rittenband, even though Mr Wells was not assigned to the case.
The film, made by Marina Zenovich, also portrays the judge as being hungry for publicity during the high-profile case.
Polanski's lawyers, Chad Hummel and Brad Dalton, said the documentary had exposed "judicial and prosecutorial misconduct... so distorted the legal process that the interests of justice can only be served with complete dismissal of the case".
They alleged Ms Zenovich's film had uncovered "a pattern of misconduct and improper communications" between prosecutors and the judge.
"This case serves as a classic example of how our justice system can be abused, and defendants' rights trampled, by an unholy alliance between courts and criminal prosecutors," they added.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said it was not aware of a request for dismissal.
"As far as we're concerned it is a matter between Mr Polanski and the court," Sandi Gibbons told the Reuters news agency.
A hearing is scheduled for January 21st.