A Los Angeles prosecutor filed court papers Tuesday asking a judge to dismiss Oscar-winning film director Roman Polanski's motion to overthrow a 1978 case in which he was convicted of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren wrote in the document that Polanski has "voluntarily remained a fugitive from justice" since 1978 and is "not entitled" to have the motion heard until he returns to a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
Polanski, 75, fled to his native France in 1978 after his conviction and has never returned to the United States since then.
Lawyers for Polanski have been seeking to have the 30-year-old case dismissed, saying that new evidence show there were bias and prejudice when persecutors and judges in the Los Angeles County Superior Court were dealing with the 1978 case.
His lawyers called Monday for the case to be referred to the California Judicial Council for "selection of an impartial, out-of-county judicial officer," accusing the Los Angeles judicial system of being biased towards Polanski.
The lawyers argued in their motion filed last month that the restriction on Polanski's travels "has not only deprived him of his basic freedoms, but has also deprived him of numerous opportunities to work on film projects outside France."
Polanski won an Academy Award for directing "The Pianist," and was nominated for directing "Tess" and "Chinatown." He also won an Oscar nomination for writing the adapted screenplay for "Rosemary's Baby."
Source:Xinhua
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