Polanski's libel case nears end

The jury retired yesterday in Roman Polanski's libel case against Vanity Fair magazine over an article alleging he tried to seduce a woman in a restaurant while on his way to his murdered wife's funeral in 1969.

The film director has fought the case from Paris via video link to avoid the risk of extradition to the United States he would run if he came to London to appear in court.

Mr Polanski is wanted in America after admitting to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977 when aged 43. He cannot be extradited from France, where he was born.

Vanity Fair now admits the alleged incident did not take place while Polanski was on his way to the funeral of his wife, who had been murdered by followers of the Charles Manson clan when eight-and-a-half month pregnant, but weeks later.

But it maintains the gist of the story is true.

Lawyers on both sides presented their final arguments and judge David Eady summed up the case before the jury began its deliberations. A verdict is possible today.

The lawyer for Vanity Fair's publishers Conde Nast, Thomas Shields, referred to "Roman's law of morality" on the fourth day of a trial in which the 71-year-old's promiscuity has been the focus of attention.

"This law, I suggest to you, knows of no rules, only violations of civilised conduct which it appears can be readily abused," Dr Shields told the court, as Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner and Sharon Tate's sister Debra looked on.

He sought to show Polanski was capable of acting with the "callous indifference" to his wife's memory that the article implied, and had no reputation to damage in the first place.

"Sadly, we would say, it is beyond repair."

During his summing up, Judge Eady added:

"We are not a court of morals. We are not here to judge Mr Polanski's personal lifestyle."

During the case, Mr Polanski admitted having sex within four weeks of Ms Tate's murder and seeking solace in the company of teenaged girls from a finishing school in Gstaad, Switzerland, the same year.

John Kelsey-Fry, Mr Polanski's lawyer, said the case was not about the director's crime of 1977, but about the truth.

And, recalling evidence given by Hollywood actress Mia Farrow who was with Mr Polanski on the evening the alleged incident took place, he said his client had been overwhelmed with grief.

"Mr Polanski was thousands of feet up in the air, under sedation, supported by his friends, in utter grief when they (the defendants) had him in Elaine's displaying utter indifference."

He sought to undermine the accuracy of the article and asked why one of the central characters in the case, the woman Mr Polanski allegedly romanced at the restaurant, had not been called to give testimony by Vanity Fair.

"The most obvious, potentially the most compelling witness in the defence's case, if the defence's case is true, is Beatte Telle," Dr Kelsey-Fry said.

Judge Eady told the jurors that £200,000 would be the "maximum ceiling" of any damages awarded in a libel trial, and that only for the most serious cases.