US judge planned to renege on Roman Polanski plea deal, says former prosecutor

A previously sealed transcript of testimony by retired deputy district attorney Roger Gunson supports Polanski’s claim that he fled on the eve of sentencing in 1978 because he did not think he was getting a fair deal.

Roman Polanski, 88, who was nominated for Oscars for 1974’s Chinatown and 1979’s Tess, won the best director statuette for The Pianist in 2003. But he was not able to accept it because he faces arrest in the US.

A Los Angeles judge privately told lawyers he would renege on a plea deal and imprison Roman Polanski for having sex with a teenage girl in 1977, a former prosecutor has testified, setting the stage for the renowned director to flee the US as a fugitive.

A previously sealed transcript – obtained late on Sunday by The Associated Press – of testimony by retired deputy district attorney Roger Gunson supports Polanski’s claim that he fled on the eve of sentencing in 1978 because he did not think he was getting a fair deal.