LOS ANGELES - POLISH-FRENCH director Roman Polanski on Tuesday filed a request through his Los Angeles lawyer asking that prosecutors drop statuatory rape charges filed against him in 1978 for having sex with a minor, court sources said.

Polanski's attorneys said they have new evidence that Polanski, 75, was a victim of prosecutorial misconduct in the case, in which he admitted to 'unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.'

Born in France of Polish parents and raised in Poland, Polanski was arrested after the parents of a 13-year-old girl complained to police, but he fled the United States after his plea agreement.

The charges against him were not dropped and he never again set foot in the United States, not even to receive the 2003 Oscar awarded him for best director in 'The Pianist.' -- AFP