The California 2nd District Court of Appeal will hear arguments Dec. 10 on Roman Polanski's efforts to get his sexual assault case dismissed.

Polanski last year asked an L.A. Superior Court judge to dismiss the three-decade-old case, in which the director pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl at the home of Jack Nicholson. But the judge refused.

Polanski fled the U.S. in 1978, just before he was scheduled to be sentenced. He refused to come to the U.S. to fight for the dismissal of the charges.

Amid the court battle, Polanski was arrested in Switzerland on a warrant related to the sexual assault. He's now in a Zurich prison and is vowing to fight extradition back to L.A., where Swiss authorities said he'd face up to two  years in prison.

Polanski has three times asked for bail, but Swiss authorities have rejected his requests, saying he poses a flight risk.

-- Shelby Grad