ROMAN POLANSKI - POLANSKI'S LAWYERS ACCUSE COURT OF 'BIAS AND PREJUDICE'

POLANSKI'S LAWYERS ACCUSE COURT OF 'BIAS AND PREJUDICE'

Filmmaker ROMAN POLANSKI's lawyers have accused the Los Angeles Superior Court of bias and prejudice against the director - and are seeking for his child-molestation case to be resolved by the California Judicial Council.
In 1978 the Academy Award-winning director was convicted of the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, but escaped to Paris, France, before he could be sentenced for the crime.
Prosecutors subsequently vowed to arrest him if he ever stepped back in America, forcing Polanski to start a new life in Europe.
The star continued to make films during his self-imposed exile, even landing an Academy Award for 2002 Holocaust drama The Pianist.
But Polanski has now taken a step towards returning to the U.S. - his legal team filed papers at L.A. County Superior Court in December (08) on the grounds of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.
And now, in legal documents filed on Monday (05Jan09), the 74-year-old's lawyers want to transfer the case away from the L.A. Superior Court.
Polanski's representatives claim statements by a court spokesman prove the courts have prejudged Polanski's case on at least one issue - whether the filmmaker must appear in court on 21 January (09). An appearance from Polanski in a U.S. court could lead to his arrest.
The documents filed on Monday also suggest the court and the L.A. district attorney's office have attempted to allude scrutiny of the alleged misconduct during Polanski's original case.