Notizie

If you thought last month’s release of previously sealed testimony by former prosecutor Roger Gunson in the Roman Polanski sex case put an end to legal jousting over the secret sessions, you thought wrong.

By way of update, lawyers and others with an interest in the case are now in a tug-of-war over access to the video of Gunson’s deposition, which took place on three separate dates in 2010.

So far, only a written transcript of the testimony has been released. But lawyers for journalists Sam Wasson and William Rempel, who won the unsealing in a California Appeals Court decision, went back to that court July 22 with a request for existing video of the sessions. That request was supported by an affidavit from filmmaker Marina Zenovich, whose documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired called attention to claimed misconduct by the Los Angeles legal system in handling Polanski’s case.

Roman Polanski’s lawyer indicated Monday that he will renew his request to have the fugitive director sentenced in absentia, a day after a transcript was unsealed that revives misconduct allegations in the director’s 45-year-old rape case.

But the path to resolving the case is not at all straightforward. Harland Braun, Polanski’s lawyer, said in an interview that he first wants to get a new judge to handle it. Braun stated that the current judge, Sam Ohta, cannot be trusted to deal with it fairly, noting that Ohta had initially refused to release the transcript, which the defense has sought to unseal for 12 years.

“Ohta is worthless,” Braun said in an interview. “Ohta is all screwed up. I don’t trust any judge in L.A. to listen to this.”

Braun said he first wants to go to Judge Eric C. Taylor, the presiding judge for Los Angeles County,...

A retired prosecutor recalled in 2010 that he was so concerned about the handling of the rape case against Roman Polanski in 1977 that he drafted a document seeking the removal of the judge.

Roger Gunson testified in a closed hearing that Judge Laurence Rittenband appeared to be having “ex parte” conversations about the case. Gunson also said that he understood Polanski’s decision to flee the country in 1978, though he did not think it was justified.

“I was surprised, but after reflecting upon what had happened, I wasn’t surprised that he left,” Gunson testified, saying he believed the judge had reneged on a promise to limit Polanski’s sentence to a brief stay in prison for a psychiatric examination. “There becomes a question as to whether he, Mr. Polanski, can rely upon the representation of Judge Rittenband.”

Gunson’s testimony was unsealed late Sunday night, after an appeals court ordered its release last week.

After 12 years in a lock box, former Los Angeles County prosecutor Roger Gunson’s conditional testimony in the Roman Polanski sex case was unsealed by court order on Thursday, and copies of a transcript were made available on Sunday night.

What the several hundred pages of testimony—taken over three days in 2010—finally delivered was not a series of bombshell revelations. Since Polanski fled the country before sentencing in 1978, constant examination of the case has left little room for surprises.

Rather, Gunson’s testimony provided a long, highly detailed, deeply informed recap both of Polanski’s crime—which involved the rape of a minor—and of alleged judicial and prosecutorial misconduct that followed it.

Perhaps the most striking details—other than blunt descriptions of the crime, which would surely be repeated if Polanski ever came to trial—involved Gunson’s account of having been blocked by superiors in the Los...

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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.”

“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.

A three-judge appellate panel ordered the release of a transcript in the Roman Polanski case on Wednesday, one day after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office withdrew its objection to disclosing the document.

Two authors, Sam Wasson and William Rempel, had asked 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 has been a fugitive ever since fleeing to France in 1978, shortly before he was to be sentenced for raping a 13-year-old girl.

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. He also testified behind closed doors for three days...

The California Appeals Court in Los Angeles on Wednesday ordered the Los Angeles County Superior Court to reverse itself and unseal hitherto hidden testimony in the long-running Roman Polanski sex case.

The order cited the need for public examination of claims that Polanski’s rights were violated by the court and prosecutors both before and after he fled the country before final sentencing in the case, which has been before the court for over four decades.

The current request to unseal testimony by a former prosecutor, Roger Gunson, was pressed by journalists Sam Wasson and William Rempel. They and their lead attorney, John Washington, argued that state law and public interest required the court to reveal what Gunson had said in a session that was held from the public. At the time, Gunson was ill, and it was feared that he might not survive to testify in any final adjudication...

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has agreed to unseal a transcript that has long been sought by Roman Polanski, as prosecutors are reconsidering the director’s 45-year-old rape case with “fresh eyes.”

Gascón announced Tuesday that the office had reversed its position and would no longer object to unsealing a transcript of a 2010 examination of Roger Gunson, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted Polanski for raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977. Polanski, now 88, pleaded guilty but fled to France before sentencing. He has lived abroad ever since. Numerous efforts by previous D.A.’s to extradite him have failed, as have Polanski’s efforts to resolve the case without first returning to the U.S.

The announcement indicated that Gascón, who was elected in 2020, is breaking with the approach of his predecessors. His office also indicated a willingness to take a new look at the case, which Polanski and...

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The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is no longer opposing a request to unseal a former prosecutor’s testimony that Roman Polanski claims will reveal misconduct from a judge, thus warranting dismissal of the decades-old case against him.

Los Angeles prosecutors on Tuesday lifted their opposition to unseal transcripts of closed-door testimony from the original prosecutor handling the case, Roger Gunson, who retired in 2002. District Attorney George Gascón told The Hollywood Reporter there were “some irregularities” in the case, starting with potential “judicial misconduct” from the judge who initially oversaw the proceedings.

A ruling unsealing the testimony could lead to Polanski being allowed to return to the United States without serving prison time for his underlying criminal case if it’s found that the court improperly reneged on the plea deal he allegedly struck with prosecutors for 90 days of psychiatric evaluation. He...

Sealed testimony by a former deputy district attorney in the Roman Polanski sex case will remain closed, the Los Angeles County Superior Court decided on Tuesday.

Journalists Sam Wasson and William Rempel had asked the court to open the testimony of Roger Gunson, which was provided years ago when it appeared that Gunson’s health might prevent his contributing to any legal proceedings involving Polanski. Many who have followed the case believe that Gunson’s deposition would confirm that the court and/or prosecutors abused Polanski’s rights during his prosecution. But the Los Angeles court has consistently refused to consider Polanski’s position until he ends his fugitive status, which began when he fled the country before sentencing.

On Tuesday, according to a person involved in the latest attempt to unseal the Gunson testimony, the court again declined.

Wasson and Rempel are expected to appeal the decision.

In one particular, progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón doesn’t differ from his predecessors: He is against opening court and prosecutorial behavior in the Roman Polanski sex case to public inspection—at least not until the fugitive Polanski returns from abroad to face sentencing.

In late December, Gascón joined Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee in filing a 15-page brief in opposition to a request by journalists Sam Wasson and William Rempel to unseal conditional testimony about the case from former prosecutor Roger Gunson. An underlying question is whether the sealed testimony, given in 2010, would support those who believe that Polanski’s rights were violated by judicial improprieties.

In their opposition, Gascón and Hanisee strongly argued that the testimony constitutes raw discovery material, and, as such, is properly kept from public view. “Granting public access to the deposition testimony from a conditional examination that has not yet been...

Hope springs eternal among those bent on getting to the bottom of the Roman Polanski sex case. On Monday morning, two writer/journalists, Sam Wasson and William Rempel, are now hoping that Judge Sergio Tapia II of the Los Angeles County Superior Court will look kindly on their request to unseal some critical evidence in the convoluted case–that is, the transcripts of 2010 conditional testimony by one of the original prosecutors, Roger Gunson.

It would be remarkable if Judge Tapia were to agree, given the court’s prior refusal to unseal the testimony at Polanski’s request, or to proceed with any of several challenges to judicial and prosecutorial behavior in the case until Polanski returns to the United States, from which he has been a fugitive since 1978. But you never know.

In very short form, Polanski fled on the eve of sentencing by Judge Laurence Rittenband on a guilty...