Director Roman Polanski is pictured during a news conference to present his musical "Tanz der Vampire" ("Dance of the Vampires") in Oberhausen, Germany in this September 29, 2008 file photo. A Los Angeles judge on Thursday officially rejected Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski's request to dismiss a three-decade-old sex case against him. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    LOS ANGELES, MAY 7 (Xinhua) -- A Los Angeles judge on Thursday officially rejected Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski's request to dismiss a three-decade-old sex case against him.

    The 75-year-old director, who did not show up for court, plans to appeal the judge's ruling, his lawyers said.

    Polanski fled to France in 1978 following his guilty plea in Los Angeles to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl at actor Jack Nicholson's home, and has since been a fugitive.

    Polanski left the United States after the judge hearing the case indicated he would reject a plea bargain in which the director would be able to stay out of prison.

    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza has insisted that he could consider Polanski's request to dismiss the 1978 case only if the director returned to the United States. Polanski's lawyers in the United States have been trying to get the case dismissed since late last year.

    Polanski is "not entitled to request any affirmative relief from this court, as he remains at large," the judge said in a written order.

    Last December, Polanski asked the court through his lawyers to dismiss the 1978 case based on new allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct detailed in an HBO documentary last year.

    But Los Angeles district attorney's office argued that Polanski could not make such a request as a fugitive and the judge agreed. An earlier attempt by Polanski to settle the case failed in 1997.

    Polanski won an Academy Award in 2002 for directing "The Pianist." He was previously nominated for an Oscar Academy Award for directing "Chinatown" and "Tess," and for screenwriting on horror film "Rosemary's Baby."