Polanski libel case goes to jury

LONDON, July 21 (UPI) -- Deliberations began in London Thursday in film director Roman Polanski's libel suit against Vanity Fair magazine.

Polanski filed the suit in London and testified via video from Paris because he is wanted in the United States for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Polanski is disputing a Vanity Fair article, which said he tried to seduce a woman in a New York restaurant while he was on his way to the funeral of his wife, Sharon Tate, who was murdered by the Manson cult in 1969.

Vanity Fair admitted it had the timeline wrong and said the incident happened, but it was about two weeks after Polanski's pregnant wife was killed.

In closing arguments Thursday, an attorney for Conde Nast, which publishes Vanity Fair, said the article did nothing to damage Polanski's reputation, the BBC reported.

"Sadly, we would say, it is beyond repair," he said.