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Victim wants case against Roman Polanski dismissed


The victim of the sex crime Roman Polanski committed more than three decades ago wants a state appeals court to dismiss the case against him, citing international media pressure that she says has harmed her health and job performance.


According to papers filed Friday with the Second District Court of Appeal, Samantha Geimer, now 45, has been inundated with hundreds of media requests for interviews since the Oscar-winning filmmaker's arrest on Sept. 26 in Zurich.


The publicity "has caused her to have health-related issues," according to the court filing prepared by attorney Lawrence Silver.


"The pursuit has caused her performance at her job to be interfered with and has caused the understandable displeasure of her employer and the real possibility that Samantha could lose her job," Silver wrote.


The filing on behalf of Geimer, a mother of three who lives in Hawaii and works as a bookkeeper, seeks dismissal of the case against Polanski.


United States authorities are seeking to have Polanski extradited back to Los Angeles to face sentencing in the case.


The director was first charged with six felony counts alleging he drugged and raped the then-13-year-old in 1977. He later pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor after the lawyer for the girl's family asked prosecutors to avoid a jury trial.


Polanski fled the country in 1978 before sentencing.


Last week, the 76-year-old director was denied bail by a Swiss court that ruled the


filmmaker has a strong motivation to flee the country to avoid extradition to the U.S.


The ruling marked the second time the Oscar-winning Polanski was denied bail since his arrest in Zurich.


Polanski, whose films include "Chinatown" and "The Pianist," faces jail if he does eventually face a Los Angeles judge.


The same Swiss court that denied the director bail will rule on an extradition request from the U.S. Justice Department at a date to be determined.


Both the bail and extradition decisions may be appealed to the Swiss Supreme Court.


The Swiss Justice Ministry declined a separate bail request earlier this month.