The Swiss government won’t consider the L.A. County district attorney’s office request to extradite Roman Polanski to the U.S. until a California appeals court rules on whether the director can be sentenced in a 1970s sex case in absentia.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal is considered Polanski’s request, and it’s unclear when the panel will rule.
In December, the court suggested that Polanski ask to be sentenced in absentia for the statutory rape he admitted committing 32 years ago. According to the three-justice panel, the sentencing hearing held in his absence would provide a forum for a Los Angeles County judge to evaluate Polanski’s allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct in the original handling of the case.
In Switzerland on Wednesday, Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli told the Associated Press that Swiss authorities will consider extradition only after the 2nd District court rules.
"The Justice Ministry will decide on the extradition only after the California Court of Appeal has decided whether to hold proceedings in absentia," Galli said. "This action allows the extradition process to adapt to the U.S. proceedings."
Polanski is now under house arrest at his Swiss chalet. L.A. prosecutors want him returned to California for sentencing for having sex with a teenage girl three decades ago.
A lower court in January rejected the idea of Polanski being sentenced in absentia.
— Shelby Grad
Photo: Los Angeles Times