CNN
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A California appellate court ordered the unsealing of transcripts related to the decades-old sexual assault case towards director Roman Polanski after Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón despatched a letter to the court rescinding his opposition to their launch, the DA’s workplace introduced Wednesday.
Polanski pleaded responsible in 1977 to one depend of illegal sexual activity with a 13-year-old woman. He fled the nation to France earlier than a sentencing listening to and stays a fugitive.
CNN has reached out to his consultant for remark.
In 2014, Samantha Geimer, the sufferer in the case, requested the court unseal the transcripts of then-Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson’s deposition and examine alleged judicial misconduct. Geimer has been notified of the court’s determination, the district legal professional’s workplace mentioned.
“My request has repeatedly been denied. I’ve been told that Mr. Polanski must surrender himself to the American authorities in order to have the misconduct in this case investigated. Further, the testimony must remain sealed unless there is an investigation. I believe this answer is disingenuous,” Geimer wrote to the LA district legal professional’s workplace final month as she pushed for the launch of information.
“This case has been described by the courts as ‘one of the longest-running sagas in California criminal justice history,” Gascón mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday. “For years, this office has fought the release of information that the victim and public have a right to know. After careful consideration of the victim’s wishes, the unique and extraordinary circumstances that led to his conditional exam and my commitment to transparency and accountability for all in the justice system, my office has determined it to be in the interest of justice to agree to the unsealing of these transcripts.”
In a 2010 interview with CNN, Geimer mentioned she didn’t need to take care of the media circus surrounding the director if he have been to ever return to the US and he or she thought the choose in Polanski’s case had been dishonest with him.
“We are pleased the appellate court agreed with both the victim and our office about the need for transparency,” Gascón mentioned in response to the determination. “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.”
The workplace is uncertain when or how rapidly the court will unseal the paperwork.
The district legal professional mentioned Tuesday that he would not object to unsealing the transcripts and filed a request with the court asking for his or her launch.
“The Gunson deposition was effectively a post-plea evidentiary hearing on judicial and prosecutorial misconduct – rather than a conditional examination to preserve the testimony of a victim or witness for trial – and the safety issues frequently present in cases where conditional examinations are used are not present in this case,” Gascón mentioned in his submitting. “Thus the transcript should be unsealed.”
CNN has sought remark from Gunson.