Roman Polanski’s trial could take place in his absence
News
oi-Staff
London
(ANI):
The
California
appeals
court
has
spelled
out
a
way
by
which
Roman
Polanski"s
trial
can
be
conducted
even
in
his
absence.
Although,
the
court
suggested
that
Polanski
might
not
have
to
go
to
jail
due
to
alleged
judicial
misconduct
in
the
original
trail,
it
declined
to
dismiss
the
three-decade-old
child
sex
case.
Polanski
had
fled
the
US
in
1978,
just
before
he
was
about
to
be
sentenced
for
having
illegal
intercourse
with
a
13-year-old
girl
in
1977.
He
was
arrested
on
an
international
warrant
in
Zurich,
Switzerland,
in
September
this
year.
While
expressing
deep
concern
over
allegations
of
misconduct
by
the
now-deceased
judge
in
the
original
trial,
the
three
judges
at
California's
2nd
District
Court
of
Appeal
said
in
a
70-page
opinion
that
they
has
seen
a
TV
documentary
which,
if
true,
showed
the
judge
had
been
"ushered
along
a
path
of
iniquity
by
an
officer
of
the
court
with
a
personal
axe
to
grind," reports
the
Telegraph.
Polanski
claims
he
fled
since
he
was
convinced
the
judge
would
go
back
on
the
agreement
not
to
pronounce
a
harsh
sentence.
The
appeal
judges
suggested
that
Polanski
could
be
said
to
have
served
his
entire
sentence
already
as
he
had
spent
42
days
under
psychiatric
evaluation
before
fleeing
from
the
US.
The
judges
noted
that
if
the
evidence
of
judicial
misconduct
was
found
true
they
were
"confident
that
the
trial
court
could
fashion
a
legal
sentence
that
results
in
no
further
incarceration
for
Polanski." They
added:
"Fundamental
fairness
and
justice
in
our
criminal
justice
system
are
far
more
important
than
the
conviction
and
sentence
of
any
one
individual."