Lawyers for Roman Polanski battled prosecutors in a California court on Thursday, arguing again for dismissal of the film director's 1977 guilty plea for having sex with an underage girl, citing judicial misconduct. But prosecutors told the appeals court the filmmaker, who fled the US in 1978 should first return to Los Angeles to face sentencing, as one judge previously ruled. The three-judge appeals panel is expected to rule within 90 days. Among its options are asking a lower court to reconsider dismissing the case, or doing nothing at all. Short of dismissing the case, Polanski attorney Chad Hummel asked the appeals court to order a new hearing into allegations that a Los Angeles judge engaged in “backroom manipulations” while handling the case in 1977.
