XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.liberalism, talk.politics.misc
XPost: sac.politics
From: total-faggots@disney.com
In article
wrote:
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> Democrats love pedophiles.
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A state appeals court Wednesday ordered the unsealing of a
former prosecutor’s testimony in the criminal case against Roman
Polanski. The ruling could eventually draw to a close the 45-
year-old legal saga.
California’s Second Appellate District issued the order after
the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office lifted its opposition
to unseal transcripts of closed-door testimony from retired
prosecutor Roger Gunson. A panel of justices pointed to
potential judicial and prosecutorial misconduct that would
require “curative action.”
“The conditional deposition of Gunson was a post-plea
evidentiary hearing designed to uncover these alleged abuses,
and we agree with the People that there is no factual or legal
basis for the conditional deposition transcript to remain
sealed,” reads the order.
Harland Braun, Polanski’s attorney, said he will move for the
director to be sentenced without having to be physically present
in court.
“If we can get him sentenced in absentia, then the warrant will
be recalled and he can get on with his life,” Braun said. “He’d
be able to travel outside of Poland, Switzerland and France.”
Polanski was arrested in 1977 for raping Samantha Geimer, then
13 years old. He accepted a plea agreement to dismiss five of
the more serious charges — including rape by use of drugs — in
exchange for pleading guilty to engaging in unlawful sex with a
minor. His lawyers expected him not to serve any time in prison
and to get probation.
Polanski fled to France after he learned that Judge Laurence
Rittenband, who initially handled the case in the 1970s and died
in 1993, was going to go back on the deal and instead put him
behind bars for 50 years. Polanski has claimed that the judge
was unduly influenced by a prosecutor, the press and fear of
public backlash for handing him a lenient sentence.
Los Angeles state court judges have consistently refused to
unseal Gunson’s testimony. The newest request to open the
transcripts came from independent journalists Sam Wasson and
William Rempel, who say their intent is to scrutinize the
integrity of the courts.
The state appeals court noted that it remains “deeply concerned
that these allegations of misconduct have not been addressed by
a court equipped to take evidence and make factual
determinations as to the events in 1977 and 1978.” The justices
urged the court and prosecutors to investigate allegations of
misconduct.
Asked whether Polanski could serve time in prison on charges of
fleeing the country, Braun said “There’s zero chance because of
the statute of limitations.” He also argued that “it wasn’t an
unlawful flight.”
“We are pleased the appellate court agreed with both the victim
and our office about the need for transparency,” District
Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “The court’s
decision helped us move toward upholding our responsibility to
tell the public the truth, and to listen to survivors. We hope
it gives her a small measure of assurance that eventually, she
can have some measure of closure in this decades-long
litigation.”
John Washington, representing Wasson and Rempel, said in a
statement that the unsealing of Gunson’s testimony is “not about
Roman Polanski’s actions” but rather the “First Amendment right
of the public and press to know about what judges and
prosecutors do in our courts, and the limits on the DA and Court
in sealing that information.”
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/appeals-
court-orders-unsealing-of-closed-door-testimony-in-polanski-case-
1235180177/
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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