Roman Polanski’s bid to be sentenced in absentia for his child sex case was denied by a California appeals court today, clearing the way for the fugitive director to be extradited back to the United States. With the dismissal of this appeal, Los Angeles prosecutors can now move closer to a sentencing of the director for the decades-old case; Swiss officials had said they were waiting for this ruling before deciding whether or not to extradite Polankski, currently under house arrest in Switzerland. [AP]