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   From: total-faggots@disney.com   
      
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   The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is no longer   
   opposing a request to unseal a former prosecutor’s testimony   
   that Roman Polanski claims will reveal misconduct from a judge,   
   thus warranting dismissal of the decades-old case against him.   
      
   Los Angeles prosecutors on Tuesday lifted their opposition to   
   unseal transcripts of closed-door testimony from the original   
   prosecutor handling the case, Roger Gunson, who retired in 2002.   
   District Attorney George Gascón told The Hollywood Reporter   
   there were “some irregularities” in the case, starting with   
   potential “judicial misconduct” from the judge who initially   
   oversaw the proceedings.   
      
   A ruling unsealing the testimony could lead to Polanski being   
   allowed to return to the United States without serving prison   
   time for his underlying criminal case if it’s found that the   
   court improperly reneged on the plea deal he allegedly struck   
   with prosecutors for 90 days of psychiatric evaluation. He may   
   face time in prison for fleeing the country.   
      
   The 45-year-old case has a complicated history, at the center of   
   which have long been allegations of prosecutorial and judicial   
   misconduct.   
      
   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 get probation.   
      
   Under the terms of the plea agreement, Polanski was allowed to   
   travel to Europe to complete filming on a project. He 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   
   up to 50 years, according to a court filing recounting the case.   
   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.   
      
   The court has consistently refused to unseal Gunson’s testimony.   
   Judges have pointed to the larger issues at stake in the   
   criminal justice system and the precedent it would set if the   
   case against Polanski, a fugitive from justice, is dismissed.   
   The newest request to open Gunson’s testimony came from   
   independent journalists Sam Wasson and William Rempel, who say   
   their intent is to scrutinize the integrity of the courts.   
      
   In a letter to an appeals court filed on Tuesday, Gascón’s   
   office claimed unsealing Gunson’s deposition is “in the interest   
   of justice.” While Gascón initially opposed doing so because it   
   appeared as if Polanski was trying to game the courts, he   
   acknowledged that the petitioners in this instance are   
   journalists with different interests than Polanski.   
      
   “As this Court also noted, prosecutors have a broader role in   
   the criminal justice system as guardians of systematic   
   integrity,” reads the filing. “The Polanski case has tested the   
   judicial system, and the combinations of interests that the   
   People must consider during the prosecution of a case.”   
      
   The Polanski case is one of the longest-running cases in state   
   criminal justice history. Gascón argued that sealing should not   
   be allowed to stand forever, especially since sealing procedures   
   are intended to protect vulnerable witnesses. Those concerns, he   
   said, no longer exist in this case. He also emphasized that the   
   public has a right to know and scrutinize alleged misconduct by   
   judges and prosecutors.   
      
   According to Gascón, a plea agreement between Polanski and   
   prosecutors might have been breached. He claimed that there was   
   a “backtracking of the original” deal.   
      
   “He had already served a period of time,” Gascón said. “As I   
   remember, the agreement said that would be the maximum time he’d   
   serve for the conduct.”   
      
   Diana Teran, director of prosecution support operations, noted   
      
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