Los Angeles D.A. Says Roman Polanski Should Face U.S. Justice for 1977 Rape

Roman Polanski Tributes Erupts Into Protest in Paris

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is maneuvering against Roman Polanski‘s latest legal attempt to unseal testimony in his long-running sex with an underage girl case and has made it clear they want to see him in a Los Angeles courtroom.

Polanski, 83, seeks to unseal a 2010 transcript of Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson, according to Variety, who prosecuted the case in 1977. The director’s attorney, Harland Braun, urged Judge Scott Gordon to make the document public in a letter on Feb. 6.

In an opposition filing Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee argued that Gordon should stick with the rulings of earlier judges, according to Deadline, who have rejected Polanski’s efforts to unseal the transcript.

“It is the People’s position that resolution of this case requires the presence of the defendant,” Hanisee wrote.

Polanski fled to France in 1978 after he thought a judge was going to drop a plea deal which allowed him to serve just 42 days. He has lived in European countries since, despite American authorities’ efforts to extradite him.

The director’s attorneys have been trying to resolve his case for 20 years. Hanisee suggested in her motion that Polanski could return to the U.S. and argue for a lighter sentence, or withdraw his guilty plea and seek a trail, according to Variety.

“The defendant has many options before him if he returns to this jurisdiction,” said Hanisee. “He can return to this court and argue for a favorable sentence. He can return to court and make a motion to withdraw his plea and face the possibility of a trial on all of the original charges. He can file an appeal of any order of the court to the Courts of Appeal. He can negotiate with the People.”

“What he cannot do is dictate outcomes from afar while insulating himself from any potential adverse consequence,” she wrote.

In January, Polanski withdrew from presiding over the César Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars, after his appointment to the prestigious role sparked outrage.