Polanski dismissal bid denied

LOS ANGELES, May 7 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles judge Thursday rejected Roman Polanski's request to have his decades-old sex-abuse case dismissed, E! News reported.

Polanski's legal team was warned the motion would be denied if the filmmaker did not personally appear before the court to plead his case but Polanski has refused to do so.

The Oscar-winning director lives in France and has not traveled to the United States since he pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a minor in 1977, and then fled the country before he could be sentenced.

Polanski's lawyers say the filmmaker left because he heard the judge initially presiding over the case planned to disregard the victim's recommendation that he be granted leniency. They say the case should be dismissed because Polanski wasn't treated fairly.

E! News quoted Polanski's lawyers as saying they will appeal Thursday's ruling.