LOS ANGELES, Feb 17 — Roman Polanski is planning a return to the United States, seeking assurances he will do no further jail time over a statutory rape cases going back four decades.

The Oscar-winning Polish born director of The Pianist and Chinatown is asking judges to honor a plea deal he says should keep him out of prison.

These are key dates in the saga:

1977

March 10:

Polanski, aged 43, invites 13-year-old Samantha Gailey (now Samantha Geimer) to take part in a fashion photo session at the Hollywood home of actor Jack Nicholson. The girl tells her mother that Polanski plied her with alcohol and drugs and raped her.

April 15:

Polanski goes on trial on charges including rape and sodomy. He initially pleads not guilty, but under a plea bargain agreement, admits the charge of having unlawful sex with a minor. He is ordered to undergo three months of psychiatric tests.

1978

February:

After a month and a half in the state prison in Chino, California, Polanski flees the United States to avoid the risk of a hefty sentence. He settles in France, where he was born and has citizenship. France refuses an extradition request by the United States.

1994

Polanski reaches a civil agreement to pay damages to the woman he assaulted. California refuses to lift the criminal charges.

2003

March:

Polanski is awarded an Oscar for his film The Pianist. Geimer issues a statement saying she has forgiven Polanski, but confirming that he raped her. Fearing arrest, the director stays away from the Oscars ceremony.

2009

September 26:

Polanski is arrested upon arrival in Zurich, Switzerland, for a film festival, pending an extradition request from the US.

October 23:

US authorities submit a formal extradition request.

November 25:

A Swiss court authorises Polanski’s release on bail and on the condition that he remain under effective house arrest at his chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad.

2010

April 22:

A California court rejects a request by Geimer to drop the charges against Polanski. Geimer says she has suffered health problems after being hounded by media.

May 15:

A 42-year-old British actress, Charlotte Lewis, alleges that Polanski sexually abused her when she was 16. Lewis’s attorney said the actress was speaking out to counter suggestions that the US case against Polanski was based on an isolated event.

July 12:

Switzerland rejects the US extradition request and Polanski is freed.

2014

October:

The US asks Poland to arrest Polanski as he travels to Warsaw for the opening of a Jewish museum. Polish prosecutors question the filmmaker but do not detain him.

2015

January 7:

The US asks Poland to extradite Polanski. 

May 8:

The Krakow court examining the demand asks the US for more information. 

October 30:

The court decides against extraditing Polanski, ruling the US request "inadmissible”. 

November 27:

The prosecutor’s office in Krakow says the decision "to refuse to hand Roman Polanski over to US authorities was justified”.

2016

May 31:

Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro says he will appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the previous decision that Polanski should not face extradition.

December 6:

The Supreme Court rejects Ziobro’s appeal.

2017

Polanski’s attorney Harland Braun writes to Los Angeles County Superior Court asking it to unseal a transcript of the testimony of the prosecutor in the case.

The lawyer believes the document will confirm that Polanski had a plea deal which was not honored, and says it would pave the way for the filmmaker to return to the US without fear of being jailed. — AFP