Roman Polanski sex abuse case documents should be unsealed, Gascón says

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón asked a state appeals court Tuesday to unseal transcripts related to the criminal case against Roman Polanski, which could end the decades-long legal saga over the film director's sexual abuse of a teenager in 1977.

In a six-page court filing, Gascón sought to have the testimony of retired prosecutor Roger Gunson made public — a request that has also been made by the victim in the case, Samantha Geimer, and marked a reversal from Gascón's predecessors, who sought to keep Gunson's words under wraps.

“For years, this office has fought the release of information that the victim and public have a right to know," Gascón said in a statement. "After careful consideration of the victim’s wishes, the unique and extraordinary circumstances that led to [Gunson's testimony] and my commitment to transparency and accountability for all in the justice system, my office has determined it to be in the interest of justice to agree to the unsealing of these transcripts.”

Polanski fled the U.S. in 1977, after he pleaded guilty to forcing Geimer to have sex with him when she was just 13 years old.

Geimer has alleged Polanski, then 43, brought her to the house of actor Jack Nicholson for a photo shoot and then plied her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill before forcing himself on her. Nicholson was not home at the time.

After reaching a plea deal with prosecutors, Polanski was sent to a state prison for a 90-day diagnostic evaluation. Judge Laurence Rittenband, who was presiding over the case at the time, said the evaluation would help him reach a fair sentencing decision. The director was released after 42 days, with prison officials saying he did not need additional prison time.

Rittenband, facing fierce media pressure, went against the recommendation and decided to send Polanski back to prison for an additional 48 days.

But Polanski fled to France, where he holds citizenship. The French government refused to extradite Polanski, and he has never returned to the U.S.

In 2009, Gunson, who led the prosecution against Polanski, was asked questions under oath about the case. His testimony was taken to preserve his recollections for possible future legal proceedings against Polanski in case the prosecutor died or was unavailable for a future trial date.

Polanski's legal team has argued that Gunson's testimony will show Rittenband intended for Polanski's short time in custody to be the extent of his sentence. Attempts to contact Gunson on Tuesday were not successful.

Polanski's legal team lost its bid to have the transcripts unsealed in 2010. More recent attempts to unseal the records came from journalists Bill Rempel and Sam Wasson, according to their attorney, Susan Seager.

Seager said Gascón was being disingenuous by painting himself as a champion of transparency on Tuesday, noting the district attorney's office had been fighting her clients' motion for access to the transcripts since last year.

"His office never should have opposed our motion to unseal in the first place," said Seager, a professor and well-known 1st Amendment attorney with the UC Irvine Press Freedom Project. "But over the past eight months, the D.A.’s office fiercely fought our motion, both in the Superior Court and in the Court of Appeal. It will be interesting to see what the Court of Appeal does now that our appeal is unopposed."

Polanski's attorney, Harland Braun, said the unsealing of Gunson's testimony could be the first step toward ending the director's legal troubles in the U.S..

“The next move is we make a motion he be sentenced in absentia," Braun said. "The D.A. can’t claim he owes any [prison] time."

Ultimately, Braun said, Tuesday's move by Gascón could lead to the quashing of the international fugitive warrant against Polanski, effectively making him a free man. Polanski, however, could face an additional two years in state prison on charges of being a fugitive from justice, according to Greg Risling, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office.

But Risling said he is not certain those charges would be brought, noting prosecutors "would need to evaluate why charges were not previously filed" by prior district attorney's office administrations.

Polanski, who is nearly 89, sought to have Gunson's testimony unsealed in 2010, after he was detained in Zurich due to an outstanding fugitive warrant in the U.S. A judge rejected the request, but officials in Zurich refused to return Polanski to the U.S.

Why Gunson's testimony was sealed remains unclear. Similar pre-emptive testimony in recent high-profile criminal cases against real estate scion Robert Durst and disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was taken in proceedings open to the public.

Polanski nearly struck a deal to end the case in the 1990s, when L.A. County Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler promised the director would not have to serve any additional time in custody if he returned to Los Angeles. But when Fidler required a hearing in the case to be open to the public, Polanski balked.

In recent years, several other women have accused Polanski of abusing them when they were underage, but the director has denied each claim. In 2018, Los Angeles prosecutors declined to charge Polanski with the alleged molestation of a teenage girl at Will Rogers State Beach in 1975 because the statute of limitations had expired.

While The Times typically does not identify victims of alleged sexual assault, Geimer has publicly spoken about the case, including her repeated requests to end the drawn out legal odyssey. Geimer has been asking for Gunson's testimony to be made public since 2014, records show.

In a letter sent earlier this year to Gascón's office, Geimer once again pleaded for someone to bring a close to her 45-year ordeal.

"The lack of resolution of this case has haunted my family for decades," Geimer wrote. "I now await the day when media attention will force me to explain to my granddaughter, who is only 6 now, what happened to her Nana all those years ago."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.