A California appeal court has said actor Ryan O’Neal’s defamation case against a man who accused him of stealing a valuable portrait of his long-time partner Farrah Fawcett should be allowed to continue.

Roman Polanski is expected to trade the confines of a Swiss jail this week for house arrest in a luxury chalet with a view of the Alps, where he will await a Swiss decision whether to extradite him to the US on child sex charges.