19 August, 2017
Noting that the court "may not dismiss the case merely because it would be in the victim's best interest", Gordon had a lot to say in his Friday order about the now-40-year-old case involving Samantha Geimer, and none of it was good for Polanski, who has compared the US justice system to the Nazis in the recent past.
"... I would implore you to consider taking action which can finally bring this matter to a close as an act of mercy to myself and my family", she told Gordon, suggesting that Polanski could be sentenced without having to return to court.
But when it appeared that Judge Laurence Rittenband wanted to send him back to jail, Polanski fled the USA for Europe. "Geimer, his conduct continues to harm her and compounds the trauma of the sexual assault committed against her that gave rise to this case".
Roman Polanski has been denied his latest request to unseal testimony given by the original prosecutor in the filmmaker's four-decade-old statutory rape case.
But Gordon rejected that suggestion in April, stating that the defendant's fugitive status disqualifies him from seeking relief in the court.
"I don't get it", Polanski's latest attorney, Harland Braun, said shortly after the judge's ruling was released.
The director of "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown" was accused of drugging Geimer when she was 13 before raping her at Jack Nicholson's house in Los Angeles in 1977 while the film star was away.
"This case is 40 years old, with an 84-year-old defendant and a 50-year-old victim requesting that the matter be resolved".
Despite repeated efforts to make a deal or extradite him ever since, Polanski has remained beyond the reach of American justice, even when the dual citizen of France and Poland and his victim have both said they wanted to see him return, just without more jail time.
After he became a fugitive, his attorneys have failed to persuade judges to sentence him in absentia and credit him for the 42 days he was incarcerated for psychological testing before he fled. But he cited a 1976 California appellate court panel's ruling in noting that "a court may not dismiss a case merely because it would be in the victim's best interest".
Geimer has said she was more traumatized by the legal system and the fallout from the case than she had been by Polanski.
Gordon had praised Geimer for her courage and elegant words but also expressed skepticism that Polanski could resolve the case without appearing in a Los Angeles courtroom. The supposed deal would have seen Polanski behind bars in total for less than 90 days for the March 10, 1977 rape of Geimer. Braun had hoped to use the testimony to persuade European authorities to rescind the global arrest warrant against Polanski. He has eight Cesars - the French equivalent of the Oscars - and a best director Academy Award for Holocaust drama "The Pianist".
Prosecutors dropped charges of rape and sodomy against Polanski, who is now living in Paris, France.