Polanski Victim Loses Bid to Put Sex Case Behind Her

Petition to have criminal case against Roman Polanski dismissed was quietly denied

If Roman Polanski's victim can't convince a judge his child-sex case isn't old news, what chance does Polanski have?

A California appeals court has denied a petition for dismissal filed by Samantha Geimer, who was 13 when Polanski admittedly had sex with her following a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson's L.A. home.

He pleaded guilty to unlawful intercourse with a minor in 1977 and fled to Europe the following year, fearing the judge would renege on their plea agreement and give him more jail time.

And while Polanski is under house arrest in Switzerland and arguing that the time he spent behind bars 32 years ago is penance enough, Geimer, too, has expressed fervent desire for the case to go away.

"She is a person who is harmed by the maintenance of the prosecution and she wants it to end," Geimer's attorney, Lawrence Silver, wrote in the petition for dismissal, which cited an updated victims' rights law in California. "She has not been treated fairly."

Prosecutors argued that broader victims' rights didn't include getting to decide whom to prosecute.

"We are evaluating the decision and are in consultation with victims' rights advocates," Silver said.

Meanwhile, California's Second District Court of Appeals was pretty busy today.

Several hours after denying Geimer's petition, the panel also denied Polanski's bid to allow a special counsel review his case, plus another request to be sentenced in absentia.