Judge broke promise to let Polanski go free in rape trial, sealed testimony says

A Los Angeles judge privately told lawyers he would renege on a promise and imprison Roman Polanski for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in 1977, a former prosecutor testified, setting the stage for the renowned director to flee the US as a fugitive.

When the girl refused to testify in court, Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in exchange for prosecutors dropping drug, rape and sodomy charges. She has since called for an end to case.

Braun has unsuccessfully tried that before with prosecutors asserting and judges agreeing that Polanski needs to show up in Los Angeles superior court to resolve the matter.

The legal saga has played on both sides of the Atlantic as a recurring scene over four decades of a life marred by tragedy and also triumph.

As a child, Polanski escaped the Krakow ghetto during the Holocaust. His wife, Sharon Tate, was among the seven people murdered in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson.

France, Switzerland and Poland rejected bids to extradite him back to the US and he continues to be feted in Europe, winning praise and working with major actors. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, however, expelled him from its membership in 2018 after the #MeToo movement spurred a reckoning about sexual misconduct.

Polanski has argued that there was judicial misconduct in his case. In 2010, a Los Angeles court took sealed testimony from Gunson about his recollections of promises made to the director by the judge in 1977.

Judge Laurence Rittenband, now deceased, had been swayed by publicity in the case and changed his mind several times about the punishment Polanski should face, Braun said.

After a report by probation officials that Polanski should serve no time behind bars, Rittenband sent the director to state prison for a 90-day diagnostic evaluation to help determine what punishment he should face.

The judge said that as long as Polanski received a favorable report from the prison, he would serve no additional time, Gunson said. After six weeks of evaluation in prison, Polanski was released with a recommendation he only serve probation, Braun said.

He said he would send Polanski to prison for a longer term but would then get him released within 120 days, which was possible under sentencing rules at the time.

Geimer went public years ago and wrote a memoir titled The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski. The cover features a photo shot by Polanski.

Polanski agreed to pay Geimer over $600,000 to settle a lawsuit in 1993.

However, the DA did not indicate that Polanski would be able to avoid a court appearance. The news release said Polanski remained a fugitive and should surrender to the court for sentencing.