While much of what the documentary revealed about the case was believed to have been unknown until recently, new testimony by Roger Gunson, the lead prosecutor in the 1977 hearings, suggests that prominent officials in the Los Angeles and California criminal justice system were well aware of Judge Rittenband’s behavior at the time and did nothing to stop it.
According to the appeal filed Thursday, Gunson informed his superiors at the district attorney’s office at the time of the original court proceedings that he was preparing to file papers calling for the removal of Rittenband from the case. He gave a draft of his affidavit to Los Angeles County’s Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Trott and supervising Deputy District Attorney Michael Montagna. When asked how they could verify Gunson’s claims against the judge, Gunson invited them to talk to Rittenband personally.
Trott and Montagna then met with Rittenband and reported back to Gunson. Incredibly, they informed Gunson that Rittenband had “admitted all of the alleged misconduct,” but that in spite of this they would deny Gunson permission to have the judge dismissed from the case.
This revelation exposes the degree to which illegal conduct prevailed in the 1977 court proceedings, involving not only the behavior of the judge, but also conduct “at the highest levels of the district attorney’s office in August 1977,” in the words of the appeal. It is now clearer than ever before that Roman Polanski was never granted a fair trial in the US. His constitutional rights have been violated repeatedly during the entire affair.
Cute. Those who want to tar and feather Polanski simply overlook the fact this judge fucked the case up from the get-go.
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