Los Angeles, July 14: An appellate panel of three judges has ordered the release of a transcript in the Roman Polanski case a day after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office withdrew its objection to disclosing the document.
Additionally, the prosecutors are reconsidering the director’s 45-year-old rape case with “fresh eyes”, reports Variety.
Two authors, Sam Wasson and William Rempel, had requested the court to unseal the transcript of a 2010 examination of Roger Gunson, the retired prosecutor who handled the case against Polanski in 1977. Polanski flew to France in 1978, shortly before he was to be sentenced for raping a 13-year-old girl and has been a fugitive ever since.
Variety further states that Polanski and his supporters have often argued that Judge Laurence Rittenband engaged in serious misconduct and reneged on a promise to sentence him to no more than a 90-day psychiatric evaluation.
Gunson was interviewed for the 2008 documentary ‘Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired’, which brought greater scrutiny to the handling of the case. According to Variety, he also testified behind closed doors for three days in 2010, as Polanski’s defence lawyers were seeking to have the case dismissed.
Gunson has accused Rittenband of acting inappropriately and claimed that his own supervisors prevented him from trying to remove the judge from the case. The D.A.’s office has previously opposed release of the Gunson transcript and has also objected to Polanski’s efforts to dismiss the case or to be sentenced in absentia.
However, George Gascon, who was elected D.A. in 2020, reversed the office’s position on releasing the transcript. Tiffiny Blacknell, a special advisor to Gascon, also told Variety that the office is interested in reviewing the case with “fresh eyes”, and will decide its next steps after seeing what the transcript says.
In its recent order accessed by Variety, the appeals court took note of the D.A’s reversal stating: “We agree with the People that there is no factual or legal basis for the conditional deposition transcript to remain sealed.”
The court also quoted its own ruling from 2009, in which the appeals court urged the lower court to investigate the allegations of misconduct in the Polanski case. At the time, the court wrote, “Fundamental fairness and justice in our criminal justice system are far more important than the conviction and sentence of any one individual. Polanski’s allegations urgently require full exploration and then, if indicated, curative action for the abuses alleged here.
Polanski’s lawyer, Harland Braun, said that he may renew his efforts to resolve the case once the transcript is released.
