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 Samantha Geimer was 13 years old when Polanski assaulted her
in Los Angeles in 1977. In recent years, she has said repeatedly
that she has forgiven Polanski, now 83, but Friday's appearance
would make the first time Geimer has appeared publicly at a
court hearing in the case.
"Samantha Geimer is tired of this. She has been asking the court
to terminate this case for years. She wants to get it over
with," the director's attorney, Harland Braun, told Reuters on
Thursday.
He said Geimer would help make the case that Polanski had served
his time and should not be punished further.
Debra Tate, the sister of Polanski's murdered actress wife
Sharon Tate, will also attend Friday's court hearing, Braun
said.
Polanski's case has been a cause celebre for 40 years. Following
a 1977 guilty plea to rape and spending 42 days in jail, he fled
the United States, fearing a plea bargain with prosecutors would
be overruled and that he would get a lengthy prison term.
The most recent attempt to resolve matters ended in April when a
Los Angeles judge ruled that the French-Polish director could
not cut a deal from abroad to return to the United States
without serving more jail time.
"Debra Tate is coming to support Roman. She hopes he will
eventually get this case resolved," Braun added. Polanski's
heavily pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered in 1969 at age 26
by followers of Charles Manson.
Braun said the aim of Friday's hearing at Los Angeles Superior
Court was to unseal testimony about the 1977 plea deal and use
it as evidence to get European authorities to rescind the
international arrest warrant against Polanski.
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"We want to have the transcripts so we can show the people at
Interpol that he has already done his time," Braun said.
Polanski, whose films include "Rosemary's Baby," and "Chinatown,"
was arrested on U.S. warrants in both Poland and Switzerland during
the past decade, but both countries ultimately declined to extradite
him.
It was not clear whether Geimer or Tate would be permitted to
address Friday's court hearing. If they are not, they will make
their case to media outside, Braun said.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office, which has fought to have
Polanski face justice in the United States, said it would ask the
court to deny Braun's request and any others "in the absence of new
facts or a change of circumstance."
Geimer, who now lives in Hawaii, helped promote a 2008 documentary
about claims of judicial misconduct in the case. She said at the
time that she does not believe Polanski is a danger to society who
needs to be locked up.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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