Kim Masters reported recently that there was some controversy surrounding the ending of Polanski: Wanted and Desired that caused a shake though not a stir. The film, which will be released in theaters July 11th (even though it already played on HBO but for those who don’t have HBO), is already one of the most interesting films released so far this year. Whether that will cause the always prickly doc voters in the Academy to snub it is another story. We’ll have to wait and see on that but after many years of heartbreak nothing would surprise this Oscar watcher.
Now that the LA Superior Court has some splainin’ to do they’ve been busy working those back-pedals. Since they deny any imposition of media coverage, the lawyers in the film, the DA and the defense attorney both issued the following statement:
In light of Monday’s statement by the Superior Court of Los Angeles and a Tuesday Los Angeles Times article about the documentary film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, former Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson and Attorney Douglas Dalton issue the following statement to correct the court’s erroneous report:
In 1997, Douglas Dalton, attorney for Roman Polanski, and Roger Gunson, prosecutor on the Polanski case, met with Judge Larry Paul Fidler in his chambers to discuss the Polanski case. Mr. Gunson and Mr. Dalton advised Judge Fidler of Judge Rittenband’s conduct in handling the case that is accurately captured in the documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.
At the meeting, Judge Fidler advised Mr. Dalton that if Mr. Polanski returned to Los Angeles, that he, Judge Fidler, would allow Mr. Polanski to be booked and immediately released on bail, require Mr. Polanski to meet with the probation department, order a probation report, conduct a hearing, and terminate probation without Mr. Polanski having to serve any additional time in custody. That there was a deal worked out between Judge Fidler and Mr. Dalton was reported in the New York Daily News as early as October 1, 1997.
One of the issues raised by Mr. Dalton during the meeting was the question of media coverage. All understood that any proceedings would be open to the public as required by law. During the meeting, Mr. Dalton pressed Judge Fidler for a resolution of the case that would allow for minimal news media. Mr. Dalton recalled that Judge Fidler would require television coverage at the proposed hearing due to the controversy. Mr. Gunson recalls television coverage discussed at the meeting. Mr. Dalton told documentary director Marina Zenovich of this requirement.
It is our shared view that Monday’s false and reprehensible statement by the Los Angeles Superior Court continues their inappropriate handling of the Polanski case.
The only way they can worm their way out of their unjust and corrupt way they handled the Polanski case is to try to discredit the Zenovich and the film itself. Yeah, good luck with that.
