Lawyers for Polish born film director - Roman Polanski, on Tuesday filed a request for a 3-decades old sex charge involving a 13-year-old girl, against their client be dismissed due to prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.  According to them, ‘a pattern of misconduct and improper communications’ between the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office and the Judge in Polanski’s case has been revealed in a documentary on the filmmaker released earlier this year.  The HBO documentary: ‘Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired’, has retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson, the man who prosecuted Polanski, saying he would have fled also, if he had been in Polanski’s position.
 
Initially, indicted on six felony counts (five were dismissed) and facing life imprisonment, Polanski pleaded guilty on one count of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.  Already, incarcerated for a 42-days psychological diagnosis, Polanski skipped sentencing which could have meant imprisonment upward of three years and fled to France , leading the judge to issue a warrant for his arrest, still in effect, today.  Ever since, Polanski, 75, has lived in self-imposed exile in France , since fleeing the United States in 1978.
 
When asked about the matter, District Attorney Steve Cooley’s office said the motion asking for dismissal of the sex charge against Polanski had not been served on their office yet.  A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 21st January 2009 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
 
Polanski, whose wife Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson family, directed classic films like ‘ Chinatown ’ and ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, including the 2002 Holocaust drama ‘The Pianist’, which won him an Academy Award for Best Director and was directed in exile.
 
The now 43-year old woman with whom Polanski had sex when she was a minor has also asked for the charge to be dropped and Polanski allowed to return to the United States .  A sensation when the case broke, reports said the girl hired as a model for a photo shoot, was given Quaaludes and champagne, following which Polanski had sex with her in a hot tub.
 
Polanski’s lawyers insist Samantha Geimer, the victim, who has three sons and lives in Hawaii, never wanted Polanski to go to prison and even now her wishes remain unchanged.  Since, the law requires courts to consider a victim’s wishes, the case should be finally concluded and the charge against Polanski dismissed.

Polanski, vilified by the American media has never returned since and his French citizenship means he cannot be extradited to the United States.