Roman Polanski's sexual-assault case will continue, judge rules

The trouble seems to not be getting over for Roman Polanski.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Roman Polanski's decades-old rape case won't be dismissed despite a plea from his victim, a California judge ruled Friday.

Earlier this year, Samantha Geimer told the court she has been serving a 40-year sentence and asked for the case to be thrown out as an act of mercy to her and her family. She was only 13-year-old and Polanski was convicted of sexually assaulting in the late '70s.

Judge Scott Gordon allowed Geimer to testify in June and felt really sympathetic to her statements but he is not convinced that dismissing the case against the ?Pianist? helmer is in the advancement of justice.

In the statement, he wrote, ?The statement of the victim in this matter is strong evidence of the actual and very real impact that sexual assault has on the survivor of sexual assault.?

Adding, ?In this case Ms. Geimer was a victim of serious crimes committed by the Defendant when she was thirteen years old. Her statement is dramatic evidence of the long-lasting and traumatic effect these crimes, and Defendant's refusal to obey court orders and appear for sentencing, is having on her life.?

While Gordon acknowledged that a judge can dismiss such a case upon his own motion, but he said that the court cannot dismiss such a case ?merely because it would be in the victim's best interest.?

He also noted that Polanski's counsel in 2008 asked the court to dismiss the case on its own motion and that request was denied by Judge Peter Espinoza.

Gordon shared that the fundamental evidence in the case has not changed, since the decision has come.

In the ruling, he stated, ?The defendant continues to stand in a position that is at the core of the fugitive dis-entitlement doctrine. The only thing that has changed in the posture of this case is that the defendant, through counsel, continues to extend his ad hominem attacks to each judicial officer assigned to the matter and those attacks by counsel become more inappropriate with each subsequent pleading filed by the Defendant.?

Braun, in a Friday filing, suggested two potential paths toward resolution. Neither Polanski nor Braun seek to justify the director's conduct in 1977 that led to the case, but they question "the honesty and integrity of some members of the criminal justice system" and hope the current court "has the wisdom and competence to resolve this ancient case."

Adding, ?Mr. Polanski has been arrested three times on this case including [in] Los Angeles, Switzerland, and Poland. Because he does not owe any additional custody time to the court, there would be no purpose in an additional arrest other than to assert personal jurisdiction.?

Geimer also replied on the ruling and issued a statement, which read, ?I did not expect the case to be dismissed, but hoped that a sentence of time served could be arranged either by sentencing in absentia or, by appearance by Mr. Polanski on the promise of such sentence. For those who are infuriated by my desire to see this matter finally put to rest, misconduct revealed or not, I can only say your callous disregard shows who you are. Those who have no sympathy for the anguish of myself or my family care not for victims of sexual assault.?

She concluded by saying, ?Victims are not a commodity to be used to pursue their own agendas. I have braced for this, but still it's a heavy blow on my hopes, I will push on despite my tears and disappointment.?

For the uninitiated, Geimer was the 13-year-old girl Polanski was convicted of sexually assaulting in the late '70s. The Rosemary's Baby director fled and says it's because the judge who was handling his case decades ago promised him he'd serve 90 days of psychiatric evaluation, but instead was going to sentence him to 50 years in prison.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)