Roman Polanski's lawyers have asked a California appeals court to reconsider throwing out a 32-year-old child sex case against their client.
In May (09), Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza rejected a request by Polanski's attorneys to dismiss the criminal case, based on allegations of unethical and improper acts by a judge and prosecutor at the time of the director's original charges in 1977.
But the lawyers are refusing to give up and now insist Espinoza was wrong, adding the actions of the same court and past prosecution officials forced Polanski to flee to Europe and escape illegal imprisonment.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office maintains Espinoza's ruling was correct, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The prosecutors and the judge state they'll only consider a dismissal if the 75-year-old director appears in court to make his case - but Polanski risks arrest as soon as he sets foot on U.S. soil.
The moviemaker has made it clear through his lawyers that he has no intention of returning to America.
Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl as part of a deal with prosecutors, in which they agreed not to pursue rape, sodomy and other charges.
The case was revived last year (08) when Polanski's attorneys filed motions to get the case dismissed based on interviews in an HBO TV documentary.
In the film, the original prosecutor and defense attorney said the trial judge, Laurence Rittenband, reneged on a sentencing agreement with Polanski after the director spent 42 days behind bars for a "diagnostic study".
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