Roman Polanski’s victim cannot ask for the 32-year-old sex case to be dismissed against the fugitive director, prosecutors argued in a court filing on Friday.
In a filing to the California Second District Court of Appeal, Los Angeles County prosecutors argue a recent constitutional revision spelling out crime victims’ rights does not grant them the power to determine the outcome of criminal cases.
They are also asking the appeals court to reject requests by Polanski’s victim, Samantha Geimer, to have the case heard in another county and unseal recent testimony by a former prosecutor.
Prosecutors argue that granting her request for dismissal would “fundamentally alter the way in which crimes are prosecuted.” The filing argues that if victims were parties to criminal cases, cases could be dropped either through intimidation, coercion or public pressure.
Geimer last month petitioned the appeals court to dismiss the case and make the other rulings in a petition. It is a separate appeal from one being pursued by Polanski’s attorneys that seeks the appointment of a special counsel to investigate alleged judicial misconduct in the case.
The court has not yet ruled on Polanski’s appeal.
California voters in November 2008 approved a measure that wrote specific victims’ rights into the state constitution, including giving them more notice about criminal proceedings.
Geimer has repeatedly sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that renewed interest of the case and media coverage has led to her being repeatedly victimized.
Polanski was accused in 1977 of plying Geimer, then age 13, with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill then raping her at Jack Nicholson’s house.
Polanski was indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molesting and sodomy. He later pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse.
Authorities are seeking Polanski’s extradition from Switzerland so he can be sentenced on the charge. The Academy Award-winning director fled the US on the eve of sentencing in 1978.
He remains under house arrest in
his chalet in the Swiss luxury resort
of Gstaad.
French singer Benjamin Biolay has won a court case against the state-owned France 24 TV station after it referred to rumors of an alleged affair with Carla Bruni, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
France 24 said on Friday that it had to pay US$$4,194 in damages to Biolay, a 37-year-old pop star.
Reports of marital problems between Sarkozy and Bruni, a former supermodel-turned-singer, swirled around the Internet and mainstream international media last month.
Bruni said the rumors were “ridiculous” and Sarkozy also dismissed them, but the launch of a subsequent police investigation into the possible sources behind the rumors meant the story did not disappear as Sarkozy
had hoped.
Sarkozy’s handling of the situation has been criticized by members of his own center-right UMP party and the affair has contributed to a slump in his approval ratings.
Christina Applegate is engaged to marry musician Martyn Lenoble.
Applegate’s publicist, Ame van Iden, said that the couple of two years became betrothed on Valentine’s Day.
This will be the second marriage for both the actress and the Dutch rocker. No wedding date has been set.
Applegate’s recent credits include TV’s Samantha Who? and the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. She is set to appear with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long in the film Going the Distance, due out this summer.
Lenoble is a founding member of the rock group Porno for Pyros.
Actor Mel Gibson and his Russian-born singer girlfriend were reported on Wednesday to have split up five months after the birth of their baby daughter.
Celebrity Web sites People.com and UsWeekly.com, among others, cited unnamed sources as saying the Braveheart actor, 54, and Oksana Grigorieva, 39, had gone their separate ways some weeks ago.
Gibson’s spokesman declined to comment on the reports.
The Oscar-winning actor and director of blockbuster The Passion of the Christ went public about his romance with Grigorieva shortly after filing for divorce in April 2009 from his wife of nearly 30 years, Robyn.
People.com said the pair “just drifted apart” and quoted an unnamed friend
as saying the split was amicable and that they hoped to raise their baby, Lucia, together.
Grigorieva, a classical pianist and model, released a debut pop music album in August. Gibson directed the music videos for four of the songs. She also has a teenage son with former James Bond actor Timothy Dalton.
Gibson, who made headlines worldwide in 2006 for a drunk-driving arrest and anti-Semitic tirade, returned to movie acting in January with the thriller Edge of Darkness after an eight-year break.
Gibson has seven children from his first marriage.
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