Polish court seeks U.S. help on Polanski case by August 8

[May 22, 2015]  WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish court on Friday said that it has requested legal help from the United States as it decides whether to extradite filmmaker Roman Polanski over a 1977 child sex crime conviction and that the United States has until Aug. 8 to reply.

Judge Dariusz Mazur announced the deadline at a district court in the southern city of Krakow.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles.

Polanski served 42 days in jail as part of a 90-day plea bargain. He fled the United States the following year, believing the judge hearing his case could overrule the deal and put him in jail for years.

(Reporting by Wojciech Zurawski; Writing by Wiktor Szary)

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