Prosecutors: Polanski efforts go back decades

AP - By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

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Prosecutors said Monday that they made contact multiple times with several countries in their efforts to arrest Roman Polanski since he fled overseas in 1978, disputing claims by the director's attorneys that they never pursued extradition because it would expose misconduct by the court that handled his sex case.

A release by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office on Monday detailed nine different actions it took over the years, including at least one per decade. The most recent was 2007, when prosecutors became aware of his scheduled appearance in Israel, but information sent arrived too late for authorities there to take action.

A similar effort in 2005 in Thailand also failed to nab the famed "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" director.

The final effort came Saturday, when Polanski, 76, was arrested in Switzerland as he arrived for the Zurich Film Festival to collect a lifetime achievement award. His lawyer has said that the director plans to fight extradition.

Defense attorneys claimed in an appeals motion filed in July that prosecutors had "not once sought to have him extradited." The filing said doing so would have brought to light judicial and prosecutorial misconduct they argued was grounds for dismissal of charges that he had sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

A response by prosecutors said Polanski's attorneys were not privy to their efforts to return Polanski to the U.S. The original prosecutor had handled the case until about eight years ago, and it's since changed hands twice.

The list of actions in that time states prosecutors sent an extradition packet to England in May 1978, thinking the director might be there. In 1986, they consulted with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after learning Polanski may travel to Canada.

In 1994, a provisional arrest warrant was sent to France even though the country refuses to extradite its citizens. Polanski has dual French and Polish citizenship.

The director pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse in 1977, but fled to France on the day of his sentencing in 1978, aware the judge planned renege on the agreement and sentence him to more prison time.

Earlier this year, Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza in Los Angeles agreed that there was "substantial misconduct" by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it. But Espinoza dismissed Polanski's bid to throw out the case because the director failed to appear in court; Polanski has asked a U.S. appeals court in California to overturn that decision.

Jeff Berg, Polanski's agent, said the timing of the director's arrest "certainly appears unusual," especially since Polanski spent the summer at his house in Switzerland. "We have no prior understanding that he was actively sought," Berg said.

Berg added Polanski, who has been shooting "The Ghost" in Germany for the past six months, was in plain sight for authorities.

"How hard would it be to find someone shooting a major film in a European country?" Berg asked. "He travels with transparency across Europe. It makes no sense."

Berg has spoken with Polanski's wife who says he remains strong and optimistic.

"I think he would like to close this chapter," Berg said.

He added that Polanski doesn't have interest in working in the United States, primarily because his family is in Europe and there are plenty of filmmaking opportunities there.