Fugitive director Roman Polanski’s latest legal bid to return to the United States has been denied by a Los Angeles judge.
L.A. Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon on Monday rejected a motion filed by Polanski that would have allowed the director to return to the U.S. without fear of serving additional jail time in connection with his 1977 conviction for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles.
“Mr. Polanski, through counsel, has filed the current motions which are similar to previously filed motions, and are based upon the same factual and legal arguments previously presented to the court and denied by other judges, and the Court of Appeal,” Gordon wrote in his 13-page order Monday. “No sufficient or compelling basis for reconsideration of these issues by the undersigned has been presented.”
The Oscar-winning director spent 42 days in prison in 1977 and was released on bail before his trial.
He fled to Europe the following year after he reportedly became afraid the judge would reverse his plea deal and sentence him to 50 years in prison.
Polanski’s attorney, Harland Braun, had requested last month that the judge recognize and honor the director’s initial plea agreement.
However, Gordon wrote that Braun “has not presented sufficient credible, admissible evidence or legal arguments to warrant the relief requested.”
“Defendant, through counsel, filed the current motions are similar to previously filed motions, and are based upon the same factual and legal arguments previously presented to the court and denied by other judges, along with the Court of Appeal,” Gordon wrote. “There is no sufficient or compelling basis for reconsideration of these issues.”
Braun accused the judge of ignoring key evidence he says prove corruption in his client’s case.
“The most important issue in this case was the fact that there are secret emails between the judges, which undermined the integrity of the judicial proceeding in this case,” Braun told Deadline. “Judge Gordon’s decision does not even discus these emails because in discussing them in it reveals improper discussion among the judges.”
“Roman Polanski has accepted moral and legal responsibility for his misconduct,” the the attorney added. “There does not seem to be one judge in Los Angeles Country who will discuss or reveal the judicial misconduct in this case.”
U.S. officials asked Poland to extradite Polanski in January 2015. But Poland’s Supreme Court rejected the request and ruled that he had served his jail time under the original plea deal.
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