French-Polish director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States a long time in the past after admitting to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old, will not face trial over an alleged assault of one other minor after reaching a settlement, his lawyer stated Tuesday.
The newest case in opposition to the director of “The Pianist,” which involved an alleged sexual assault in 1973, had been due in civil court docket in Los Angeles subsequent August, however has now been withdrawn, Polanski’s U.S. lawyer informed AFP.
The case was “settled in the summer to the parties’ mutual satisfaction and has now been formally dismissed,” Alexander Rufus-Isaacs stated in an electronic mail.
The go well with, filed final yr, claimed Polanski took a then-teenager — named anonymously in filings as Jane Doe — to dinner at a restaurant in Los Angeles in 1973.
He allegedly gave her tequila, and when she started to really feel dizzy, drove her to his residence, the place he compelled himself on her.
“She told him: ‘Please don’t do this,'” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, informed reporters in March. “She alleges that he ignored her pleas. She also alleges that defendant Polanski removed plaintiff’s clothes and he proceeded to sexually assault her, causing her tremendous physical, emotional pain and suffering.”
The civil go well with, which sought unspecified damages, was filed in June 2023, simply earlier than the expiration of a California regulation that allowed for an prolonged window for claims in opposition to the alleged perpetrators of sexual crimes.
Court papers filed in California in July stated a “conditional” accord had been reached.
The plaintiff’s lawyer didn’t reply to AFP’s request for touch upon Tuesday.
Oscar-winner Polanski, now 91, is a divisive determine, with some within the film world hailing his artistic genius, whereas others insist he was all the time a sexual predator.
Polanski admitted to the statutory rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in a plea discount in 1977 to keep away from a trial on extra severe costs.
But he fled to France the next yr, after serving 42 days in jail, when it appeared a decide was reconsidering his launch.
Geimer has subsequently defended Polanski, and was photographed with him final yr.
A French court docket in May acquitted Polanski of defaming British actor Charlotte Lewis after she accused him of raping her when she was a teen.
The director has all the time denied wrongdoing.
© 2024 AFP