Appeals Court Orders Unsealing of Closed-Door Testimony in Polanski Case

Winston Cho
·3 min read
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A state appeals court Wednesday ordered the unsealing of a former prosecutor’s testimony in the criminal case against Roman Polanski. The ruling could eventually draw to a close the 45-year-old legal saga.

California’s Second Appellate District issued the order after the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office lifted its opposition to unseal transcripts of closed-door testimony from retired prosecutor Roger Gunson. A panel of justices pointed to potential judicial and prosecutorial misconduct that would require “curative action.”

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“The conditional deposition of Gunson was a post-plea evidentiary hearing designed to uncover these alleged abuses, and we agree with the People that there is no factual or legal basis for the conditional deposition transcript to remain sealed,” reads the order.

Harland Braun, Polanski’s attorney, said he will move for the director to be sentenced without having to be physically present in court.

“If we can get him sentenced in absentia, then the warrant will be recalled and he can get on with his life,” Braun said. “He’d be able to travel outside of Poland, Switzerland and France.”

Polanski was arrested in 1977 for raping Samantha Geimer, then 13 years old. He accepted a plea agreement to dismiss five of the more serious charges — including rape by use of drugs — in exchange for pleading guilty to engaging in unlawful sex with a minor. His lawyers expected him not to serve any time in prison and to get probation.

Polanski fled to France after he learned that Judge Laurence Rittenband, who initially handled the case in the 1970s and died in 1993, was going to go back on the deal and instead put him behind bars for 50 years. Polanski has claimed that the judge was unduly influenced by a prosecutor, the press and fear of public backlash for handing him a lenient sentence.

Los Angeles state court judges have consistently refused to unseal Gunson’s testimony. The newest request to open the transcripts came from independent journalists Sam Wasson and William Rempel, who say their intent is to scrutinize the integrity of the courts.

The state appeals court noted that it remains “deeply concerned that these allegations of misconduct have not been addressed by a court equipped to take evidence and make factual determinations as to the events in 1977 and 1978.” The justices urged the court and prosecutors to investigate allegations of misconduct.

Asked whether Polanski could serve time in prison on charges of fleeing the country, Braun said “There’s zero chance because of the statute of limitations.” He also argued that “it wasn’t an unlawful flight.”

“We are pleased the appellate court agreed with both the victim and our office about the need for transparency,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “The court’s decision helped us move toward upholding our responsibility to tell the public the truth, and to listen to survivors. We hope it gives her a small measure of assurance that eventually, she can have some measure of closure in this decades-long litigation.”

John Washington, representing Wasson and Rempel, said in a statement that the unsealing of Gunson’s testimony is “not about Roman Polanski’s actions” but rather the “First Amendment right of the public and press to know about what judges and prosecutors do in our courts, and the limits on the DA and Court in sealing that information.”

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