LOS ANGELES — In January 1978, Roman Polanski bought the last seat on a British Airways flight to London and never came back.

The celebrated director of “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Chinatown” was out of jail after a 42-day psychiatric evaluation. He faced a likely 48 more days to complete his sentence after a guilty plea to having sexual intercourse with a minor, though he feared he could face far more time behind bars.

By fleeing instead of facing his time, Polanski began a four-decade legal saga that also served as a sharp cultural divide between Europe, where he was welcomed as an artist, and the United States, where he was a wanted man.

On Friday, the “case that never goes away” appeared close to being over.

A Polish appeals court ruled Polanski would not be extradited to the United States to face sentencing. This came several years after Swiss officials made the same decision.

Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who initiated the first of two cross-Atlantic extradition attempts, conceded there is now little chance of any government turning over Polanski, who has retained his enormous popularity in Europe.

“I doubt at this stage he will ever be returned here,” Cooley said. “Basically, short of him landing in the U.S., I don’t see a government extraditing him at this stage.”

But the end of the case does not mean Polanski, 82, is free to travel.

“His life is pretty much limited to three countries that embrace him: France, Poland and Switzerland,” said former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson.