In letter, Swiss say they sought Polanski data

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch, Ap Special Correspondent
LOS ANGELES – The Swiss government asked the U.S. Justice Department to release sealed transcripts in the Roman Polanski case just days before a Los Angeles judge was told that the Swiss did not request that information, according to a letter from Swiss officials that points to apparent miscommunication in the case. The officials said that the denial of access to the information was the key factor in the refusal to extradite the film maker to the U.S., according to the letter to the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland.

A district attorney's spokeswoman said their office was never notified of the Swiss request and did not know that the Justice Department had turned it down. The letter dated Monday was obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday night. It provided a time line of when the request was filed and when it was turned down.

The letter blamed the denial of extradition solidly on the refusal by the Justice Department to show them transcripts of testimony by the film director's original prosecutor.
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Judge: Polanski won't be sentenced in absentia

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch

LOS ANGELES – A judge ruled Friday that Roman Polanski must return to the U.S. to be sentenced in a decades-old sex case. Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza said he ruled "in defense of the integrity of the justice system, he needs to surrender."
His ruling is likely to be appealed.

Attorneys for the 76-year-old director have argued their client should be sentenced in absentia to time already served after pleading guilty in 1978 to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. Prosecutors insist Polanski must appear in a Los Angeles courtroom and not be permitted to manipulate the justice system. Polanski, arrested on a U.S. warrant, spent more than 60 days in a Swiss jail before being transferred to house arrest in his Swiss vacation home Dec. 4.

An attorney for Polanski's victim also urged Espinoza to have the director sentenced in absentia. Michael Brennan, a law professor at the University of Southern California, said it's highly unusual for a defendant to be sentenced in absentia. In court documents, Polanski's attorneys said the late Superior Court Judge Laurence J. Rittenband sentenced the director in 1978 to a diagnostic study at a California prison where he served 42 days.

Although the judge told attorneys that would be Polanski's full sentence, he later indicated he was going to renege on the bargain and give him a harsher sentence at a scheduled hearing. Polanski fled to France and has been a fugitive ever since. His attorneys said the judge's promise is binding and Polanski has served his full sentence. They have asked Espinoza for a full hearing with witnesses about allegations of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct in the case.

Polanski's victim, Samantha Geimer, was 13 when she met Polanski for a modeling shoot in Los Angeles in 1977. Polanski was accused of plying her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill then raping her at Jack Nicholson's house. He was initially indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molesting and sodomy. He later pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse.

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Nude photo of Polanski, Tate to be auctioned in NY

United Press - A nude photo of filmmaker Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate taken just months before her death will be sold at auction next month. The black and white photo by British photographer David Bailey will be sold by Christie's in New York on Dec. 7. It shows the topless couple embracing. Christie's is estimating that the 33-inch-by-33 1/4-inch print will sell for $8,000 to $12,000.

Tate, Polanski's wife, was murdered in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson. In 1977, Polanski was accused of plying a 13-year-old girl with champagne and a Quaalude pill and then raping her. He fled the United States the day he was to be sentenced on a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse. Polanski was arrested in Switzerland on Sept. 26.
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AP NewsBreak: Swiss defend Polanski tipoff to US

By Bradley S. Klapper And Thomas Watkins, Associated Press Writer
GENEVA – The Swiss government said Wednesday it acted correctly when it tipped off the United States last month and set in motion the arrest of Roman Polanski in his decades-old child sex case. Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli said e-mails obtained in Los Angeles by The Associated Press show regular police procedure when a wanted individual is expected in Switzerland.

The documents obtained under a U.S. public records request show the Swiss ministry sent an urgent fax to the U.S. Office of International Affairs on Sept. 22 stating Polanski was traveling to Zurich. The director was to be feted at a film festival, and Swiss officials wanted to know if the U.S. would be submitting a request for his arrest as he was the subject of an international law enforcement "Red Notice."
"An arrest is a big operation and we needed to know if the warrant was still valid," Galli told the AP. "The Americans immediately confirmed that was the case."
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