Polanski wants case moved out of L.A.

Roman Polanski's lawyers argue that the director's bid to have that pesky sex with a minor case from the 1970s dismissed should be moved because the entire Los Angeles Superior Court is "too seriously tainted by its own misdeeds to treat the Oscar-winning filmmaker fairly," Michael Cieply reports for the New York Times.

Monday’s filing comes just one day before a date by which prosecutors were expected to file a response to Mr. Polanski’s request last month that his case be dropped. It seeks review by “an out-of-county” judicial officer, and argues that “the entire Los Angeles Superior Court should be disqualified from further hearing this case.”

The filing specifically claims that the court effectively pre-judged a crucial issue in the current dismissal motion — whether the case can be dropped without Mr. Polanski’s returning to the country. That occurred, the filing claims, when a public information officer, Alan Parachini, last month told the Los Angeles Times in an email that the court had a standing position that dismissal could not be considered unless Mr. Polanski ended his fugitive status.

Mr. Polanski’s filing said the court thus violated its own Rules of Judicial Conduct by ruling publicly on a key issue that had never been addressed, as Mr. Polanski had never in the past sought dismissal.

Spokesmen for both the district attorney and Los Angeles Superior Court said their offices had not seen the filing and would have no immediate comment.