Roman Polanski is a huge name in world cinema and the director is well known for his legendary films over the years. The 88-year-old received two Oscar nominations in 1974 (Chinatown) and 1979 (Tess) before finally winning the Best Director award for “The Pianist” in 2003.
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However, he was not present to accept the award as he fled the United States in relation to a criminal case and a former prosecutor has revealed how a Los Angeles judge played a part in Polanski leaving the country. The prosecutor testified that the judge told some lawyers in private that he was going to send Polanski to jail for having sex with a teenage girl in 1977 on the eve of the final sentencing in the trial.
The Associated Press reported that Polanski left the country during the court case as he felt that he was not getting a fair trial and retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson supported his claims.
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“The judge had promised him on two occasions … something that he reneged on. So, it wasn’t surprising to me that, when he was told he was going to be sent off to state prison … that he could not or would not trust the judge,” Gunson said in a closed-door testimony in 2010.
The legal battle has been going on for almost four decades and in the process, Polanski has changed his place of residence multiple times. Attempts of extradition by the United States authorities were also unsuccessful as their requests were rejected by France, Poland and Switzerland.
