娱乐英语新闻:Lawyers plead Polansk be sentenced in absentia

BEIJING, Jan.20 (Xinhuanet)-- Lawyers in a filing Tuesday asked California Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza to sentence Roman Polanski in absentia to time served in the handling of his 32-year-old sex case, according media reports.

Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza has scheduled a hearing for Friday to determine if Polanski can be sentenced in absentia.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren insists that Polansk must appear in person, characterizing the director as "a fugitive and convicted child rapist.”

But his victim has said she wants the case dismissed and feels she is being victimized again by all the publicity.

Polanski, 76, director of "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby," was arrested in September on a US warrant as he entered Switzerland for a film festival. He is now under house arrest in Switzerland while awaiting a decision on a U.S. extradition request.

Los Angeles prosecutors have told the Swiss authorities Polanski faces as long as two years in prison.

Polanski fled the U.S. in 1978 before he was sentenced after pleading guilty the previous year. He was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977.