Polanski seeks to have sex case dismissed

WARSAW, Poland, July 8 (UPI) -- Director Roman Polanski has appealed a May ruling in which a judge refused to dismiss a 32-year-old sex-abuse case.

Polanski had based the May request on what he called unethical and improper acts by a judge and prosecutor at the time of his original case in 1977, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Los Angeles Superior Judge Peter Espinoza has acknowledged "substantial" misconduct but said he was forced to deny Polanski's request because the Oscar-winning director did not show up for court in person.

Polanski's lawyers say he will not return to the United States from France.

He pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in a deal in which prosecutors agreed not to pursue rape, sodomy and other charges.

He then fled the country before he could be sentenced and has not returned to the United States since.