Home Entertainment 

Story

Polanski's Rape Charge Request Challenged

Prosecutors Argue Director Should Return To U.S.

Posted: 10:47 am EST January 7, 2009Updated: 11:07 am EST January 7, 2009

Movie director Roman Polanski's bid to have a 31-year-old rape charge against him dismissed was challenged Tuesday by prosecutors in documents that included the most graphic account yet of his sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl.

Prosecutors said Polanski's motion should be denied outright, adding his claims of judicial misconduct cannot be heard in court unless he returns to the United States.

As a fugitive, the 75-year-old Polanski would risk arrest if he entered the country. He fled in 1977 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

The director has lived in self-imposed exile in France since then.

His lawyers have suggested the matter can be argued without his presence.

Polanski won a Best Director Oscar for his 2002 Holocaust drama "The Pianist," but did not return to the U.S. to attend the awards ceremony.

The filmmaker directed such classics as "Rosemary's Baby," "The Fearless Vampire Killers" and "Chinatown" prior to fleeing the U.S.

Since then, he's directed several films outside of the U.S. starring American actors, including "Frantic" with Harrison Ford, "Death and the Maiden" with Sigourney Weaver and "The Ninth Gate" with Johnny Depp.

Hot Slideshows

See & Be Seen takes you inside a $3 million penthouse atop Three PNC Plaza that just sold to a mystery buyer. The views are as fabulous as the floor plan. Slideshow | Video

Nearly 23,000 votes were calculated. Meet the winner of our Halloween pet photo contest! Full Story ››

FINALISTS: View Photos

Steelers fans enjoyed playing ping-pong, pool and poker with their favorite Steelers and Darieth Chisolm at the "In the Pocket" fundraiser. Proceeds went to the Best of the Batch Foundation's reading & computer literacy program.
Slideshow

See who we spotted at the "Dine with the Pittsburgh Steelers" event at Heinz Field. View Pictures

Animal Friends' 12th Annual Black Tie & Tails event was held at the Circuit Center on Pittsburgh's South Side. Slideshow

SpongeBob SquarePants visited with children at the South Hills Village Mall. Slideshow

Actress Anne Hathaway and actor Jake Gyllenhaal were spotted outside the former Beleza Coffee Shop on Buena Vista Street in the North Side Tuesday filming the movie "Love & Other Drugs." Slideshow | Video

Slideshow Archive ››