Los Angeles, Aug 10 : The epic legal battle of Polish-French filmmaker Roman Polanski is far from finished. Lawyers as well as others with an interest in the Roman Polanski sex case are currently in a battle about access to the footage of Roger Gunson, the former prosecutor’s deposition, which was held on three different dates in 2010according to “Deadline”.
Gunson’s testimony was a lengthy extremely detailed, well informed review of the crime committed by Polanski that included the sexual assault of an unidentified minor – as well as of the accusations of corruption in the judicial and prosecutorial process that occurred following it.
So so far, only the written transcription of the evidence has been made available.However, the lawyers for journalists Sam Wasson and William Rempel who prevailed in the denial of sealing in the California Appeals Court decision, returned to the court on July 22 with an appeal for the existing video of the proceedings.
In the book ‘Deadline’ the request was backed by an affidavit of the filmmaker Marina Zenovich, whose documentary “Roman Polanski: Desired and Desired” brought to light the alleged wrongdoing of the Los Angeles legal system in handling the case of Polanski.
The court of appeals has stated that Wasson and Rempel (plus Marina Zenovich) should be able to request the Superior Court for access to the video and the accompanying exhibits.
In the meantime the Los Angeles district attorney’s office which, in the end, did not have a problem with the sealing of the transcript stated that it will oppose the sealing of the film, in part due to concerns for the privacy of Gunson who was sick when he gave evidence.
The ‘Deadline’ also states that online Superior Court records showed no evidence of an application to block the video, however it could be the case from lawyers representing Wasson and Rempel or perhaps attorney Harland Braun who has represented Polanski in recent years.
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