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Famed writer  and director and Oscar winning filmmaker, Roman Polanski has come to the end of his run. Polanski, now 76, was taken into custody Saturday in Zurich, Switzerland by Swiss authorities. He’s facing extradiction, having pled guilty to drugging and raping a 13-year old Calfornia girl back in 1977.

Federal officials want to extradite him back to Los Angeles courts to stand before a judge. Seems Polanski was at actor Jack Nicholson’s house one night back in 1977 when he gave Samantha Geimer, (then 13) Quaalude’s and champagne during a photo shoot. 

In the past, there have been several attempts to get Polanski to stand before a judge on these charges, but officials have been unable to  get him to return to California and attend the hearings. He’s just flat out refused. He even missed out on receiving the lauded, Best Directing Oscar for ”The Pianist” in 2003.

Recently, Polanski’s attorney’s have attempted to get the case thrown out of court. However, the Los Angeles judge and prosecuting attorneys simply refuse on grounds it would be a miscarriage of justice to let Polanski go free on such serious charges.

The then 13-year-old girl, Geimer is now 45. She has asked the judge to throw out the case, even filing court papers stating, “I am no longer a 13-year old child. I have dealt with the difficulties of being a victim… every time this case is brought to the attention of the Court, great focus is made of me, my family and others.”  She has since won a suit for the charges against Polanski and has received an undisclosed settlement.

It’s an all together sad story which plays out of decades of heavy issues. In 1969, the then pregnant wife of Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, was savagely murdered in the famous Manson family slayings. Ironically, Tate’s confessed murderer, Susan Atkins, died in prison yesterday. While there is no word at how long extradition may take, it seems the screenplay of Polanski’s life is fraught with tragedy and ‘ghosts-of-the-past-come-haunting.’