Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza has today rejected a motion by lawyers for Frenchfilm director Roman Polanski to have charges of unlawful sex with a child dismissed.
In 1977, Polanski was arrested charged with sodomy, sexual assault and rape of a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's house in California, United States.
Polanski agreed to plead guilty to unlawful sex with a child, often called statutory rape, in exchange for having the more serious charges dropped.
However, in 1978, before his sentencing, Polanski fled the United States. He has since been a fugitive and faces arrest if he sets foot on US soil. France refuses to extradite him.
Polanski's lawyers argued that there were irregularities and misconduct in the original handling of the case. While the Judge agreed, he rejected the notion that the charges should be dismissed on the grounds that Polanski cannot challenge the ruling while on the run as a fugitive.
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
