A California appeals court on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of documents in the criminal case against director Roman Polanski, who has been a fugitive since fleeing to France after pleading guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
The order was issued after Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón sent a letter to the court rescinding his opposition to the release of the documents, his office announced Wednesday.
The court ordered that the conditional deposition transcript of Roger Gunson, the original prosecutor in the case be released, Gascón’s office said.
Two authors, Sam Wasson and William Rempel, had asked the court to unseal the 2010 conditional deposition transcript of Roger Gunson, the original prosecutor in Polanski’s case, according to the court.
Polanski’s agent in Los Angeles, Jeff Berg, declined to comment.
Polanski, 88, who won a best director Oscar for “The Pianist” in 2003, fled to France before a sentencing hearing in his case and has remained a fugitive since then. France, Switzerland and Poland have rejected bids to extradite him back to the U.S.
During Polanski’s trial, the victim, Samantha Geimer, testified that Polanski had given her champagne and part of a sedative pill before raping her during a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson’s home in March 1977 when the actor wasn’t home.
In 2017, Geimer asked a judge in Los Angeles to end the case, calling it a “40-year-sentence” for both her and the director, but the request was denied.
Polanski has long asserted that there was judicial misconduct in his case. His lawyers have pushed for the unsealing of the testimony and Geimer has also requested it, recently urging the DA’s office to revisit the case.
The DA’s office has previously objected to releasing the documents, but rescinded the objection in an apparent bid to fulfill Geimer’s wishes.
In a statement, Gascón said: “We are pleased the appellate court agreed with both the victim and our office about the need for transparency.”
“The court’s decision helped us move toward upholding our responsibility to tell the public the truth, and to listen to survivors,” he said, adding: “We hope it gives her a small measure of assurance that eventually, she can have some measure of closure in this decades-long litigation.”
The victim was notified of the court’s decision and was “grateful” for the outcome, Gascón’s office said.
According to his office, the victim said: “It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
It was not immediately clear how soon the documents will be unsealed.
Diana Dasrath and The Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
