A Los Angeles judge dismissed Roman Polanski's bid to throw out a decadesold sex case yesterday because the fugitive director failed to appear in court to press his request.

In a secondslong hearing without even any lawyers present, Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza said he was finalizing an earlier decision for the record. He had placed the order on hold to give Polanski time to return to the United States from France.

Polanski's lawyer notified the judge earlier this week that Polanski would not appear because he believed his presence was irrelevant to the dismissal motion.

Polanski, 75, pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl and then fled to France. He recently sought dismissal on grounds of misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it. Polanski would have risked arrest on a fugitive warrant if he had returned to Los Angeles for the hearing.

KIEFER SUTHERLAND ACCUSED OF ASSAULT

Kiefer Sutherland arrived at a New York City police station yesterday for questioning about a fashion designer's claim that the actor head-butted him at a Manhattan nightclub.

The star of Fox television's "24" — who served 48 days in jail on a drunken-driving charge in California last year — could be charged with misdemeanor assault. Jack McCollough, of design firm Proenza Schouler, claims Sutherland attacked him after an argument, leaving him with a cut on his face. Actress Brooke Shields may be questioned as a witness — she was also at the trendy SoHo nightspot SubMercer where the altercation took place.

POLICE UNDER SCRUTINY IN RIHANNA CASE

Chris Brown's attorney has requested police files on the alleged beating of singer Rihanna — including the results of an investigation into the leaking of a photo of her battered face to celebrity gossip Web site TMZ. He is seeking evidence of police misconduct he says could be grounds for dismissal.

Attorney Mark Geragos wrote in a motion filed Wednesday that he is seeking personnel and investigative records that might discredit police witnesses at a June preliminary hearing. Evidence of police misconduct, Geragos wrote, could help him build an argument to dismiss charges against the R&B singer in the Feb. 8 beating of his girlfriend. Brown, 20, remains free on bail.

MUNCHKIN ACTOR CARROLL DIES AT AGE 89

One of the last surviving Munchkins from the 1939 classic film "The Wizard of Oz" died yesterday. St. Louis actor Mickey Carroll was 89.

Carroll, born Michael Finocchiaro in 1919 in St. Louis, told The Associated Press in 2007 that the Munchkins made only $125 a week during the filming, but got decades of recognition.