Roger Gunson: Last News

If you thought last month’s release of previously sealed testimony by former prosecutor Roger Gunson in the Roman Polanski sex case put an end to legal jousting over the secret sessions, you thought wrong.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA retired prosecutor recalled in 2010 that he was so concerned about the handling of the rape case against Roman Polanski in 1977 that he drafted a document seeking the removal of the judge.Roger Gunson testified in a closed hearing that Judge Laurence Rittenband appeared to be having “ex parte” conversations about the case. Gunson also said that he understood Polanski’s decision to flee the country in 1978, though he did not think it was justified.“I was surprised, but after reflecting upon what had happened, I wasn’t surprised that he left,” Gunson testified, saying he believed the judge had reneged on a promise to limit Polanski’s sentence to a brief stay in prison for a psychiatric examination.

After 12 years in a lock box, former Los Angeles County prosecutor Roger Gunson’s conditional testimony in the Roman Polanski sex case was unsealed by court order on Thursday, and copies of a transcript were made available on Sunday night.

A California appeals court on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of a conditional deposition transcript to be opened in the criminal case against director Roman Polanski, who pled guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl decades ago.  The deposition transcript is Roger Gunson's, the former prosecutor in the case who retired in 2002, according to The Hollywood Reporter.The Los Angeles District Attorney was formerly opposed to unsealing the documents but lifted its opposition Tuesday.    "The conditional deposition of Gunson was a post-plea evidentiary hearing designed to uncover these alleged abuses, and we agree with the People that there is no factual or legal basis for the conditional deposition transcript to remain sealed," the order read.  The request to unseal was submitted by journalists Sam Wasson and William Rempel, arguing alongside their lawyer, John Washington, that state law and public interest required Gunson's testimony be unsealed.

Sealed testimony by a former deputy district attorney in the Roman Polanski sex case will remain closed, the Los Angeles County Superior Court decided on Tuesday.

More Covid scheduling grief: The Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday postponed its planned Friday morning hearing on a request to open sealed testimony in the Roman Polanski sex case, citing concerns about the surge.

In one particular, progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón doesn’t differ from his predecessors: He is against opening court and prosecutorial behavior in the Roman Polanski sex case to public inspection—at least not until the fugitive Polanski returns from abroad to face sentencing.