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"I don't persecute anybody. It's a matter of court processes being concluded," Cooley told KCAL9 local television.
Polanski was detained in Switzerland on Saturday over a three-decade-old sex abuse case involving a 13-year-old girl.
Polanski, who was initially charged with rape and other offences, pleaded guilty to unlawful intercourse with a minor after striking a deal with prosecutors but fled California before he was due to be sentenced.
His arrest drew an angry response from officials in France and Poland and was criticised in a petition signed by Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Penelope Cruz and other mostly European film-makers.
Cooley also took issue with a comment made by famed producer Harvey Weinstein, who referred to Polanski's offences as a "so-called crime."
"Mister Polanski pled guilty to a crime, so apparently Mr Polanski believes it's a crime," Cooley said.
Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse, but he was also originally charged with five other counts: furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14, rape by use of drugs, perversion and sodomy.
Cooley, meanwhile, declined to discuss how prosecutors planned to handle Polanski's case if he is successfully extradited to Los Angeles.
"We're doing our job," he said. "We know how to extradite people and we're going to process it according to the standards set by the extradition treaty between the United States of America and Switzerland."
Meanwhile, the director of a documentary that helped Polanski's legal team challenge a claim of judicial misconduct last year said she was baffled by comments from a retired prosecutor who said he had lied in the film.
David Wells, 71, said in the documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" that he had talked with the judge in the famous case before he rendered a sentence and told him that the director deserved prison. Wells told US media on Thursday that his revelations were lies.
Documentary film-maker Marina Zenovich described his comments as "sad."
"I am astonished that he has now changed his story," Zenovich said. "It is a sad day for documentary filmmakers when something like this happens."
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Polanski was detained in Switzerland on Saturday over a three-decade-old sex abuse case involving a 13-year-old girl.
Polanski, who was initially charged with rape and other offences, pleaded guilty to unlawful intercourse with a minor after striking a deal with prosecutors but fled California before he was due to be sentenced.
His arrest drew an angry response from officials in France and Poland and was criticised in a petition signed by Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Penelope Cruz and other mostly European film-makers.
Cooley also took issue with a comment made by famed producer Harvey Weinstein, who referred to Polanski's offences as a "so-called crime."
"Mister Polanski pled guilty to a crime, so apparently Mr Polanski believes it's a crime," Cooley said.
Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse, but he was also originally charged with five other counts: furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14, rape by use of drugs, perversion and sodomy.
Cooley, meanwhile, declined to discuss how prosecutors planned to handle Polanski's case if he is successfully extradited to Los Angeles.
"We're doing our job," he said. "We know how to extradite people and we're going to process it according to the standards set by the extradition treaty between the United States of America and Switzerland."
Meanwhile, the director of a documentary that helped Polanski's legal team challenge a claim of judicial misconduct last year said she was baffled by comments from a retired prosecutor who said he had lied in the film.
David Wells, 71, said in the documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" that he had talked with the judge in the famous case before he rendered a sentence and told him that the director deserved prison. Wells told US media on Thursday that his revelations were lies.
Documentary film-maker Marina Zenovich described his comments as "sad."
"I am astonished that he has now changed his story," Zenovich said. "It is a sad day for documentary filmmakers when something like this happens."
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