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Polanski Getting Desperate

Posted by: David Ring
May 11, 2010
Topic: Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski's attempts to have the Los Angeles courts sentence him in absentia are not succeeding.  Polanski sought a ruling from the California Court of Appeal that would force the trial judge to sentence him without having to appear in Los Angeles.  The Court of Appeal refused his request.  Polanski's next two moves appeared a bit desperate.

First, Polanski went public.  He issued a statement on a website claiming he was being unfairly singled out by L.A. prosecutors and courts.  He said all they wanted was to serve him up to the media.  Polanski's comments had little or no effect here.  Maybe the comments were intended for the media in Europe, and particularly the Swiss authorities who continue to hold him under house arrest pending extradition.  But they didn't help his cause much in California.

Next, Polanski sought to make public the recent testimony provided by the prosecutor who handled the rape case against Polanski.  The prosecutor's testimony was taken because it might be needed in future proceedings and rumor has it he could be unavailable in the future to testify.  Polanski asked the court to make that testimony available to the public (in other words, the media).  The court refused to do so.

Polanski is running out of options.