What Do You Think?

[John.hergy]

I know it is not uncommon for a sexual assault victim to wait a while before reporting the attack. However waiting 8 years and starting formal charges and investigation only after it looks like the changes in the states may be dropped or he will found innocent - plus the polls starting to show again that the guy just might still have a good chance to win the election - this seems a little odd to me.



copied from:
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110708/FREE/110709943

Paris prosecutors probe Strauss-Kahn accusation


A preliminary investigation concerning a French writer's accusations against French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn is getting underway, even as New York prosecutors weigh charges here.


July 8, 2011



(AP) - The Paris prosecutor's office said Friday it has opened a preliminary investigation into accusations by a French writer that former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her.

The probe comes just as New York prosecutors are weighing whether or not to go ahead with a case in which a chambermaid accused Mr. Strauss-Kahn—long considered a top contender for France's presidency—of sexual assault. Questions have surfaced about the maid's credibility, throwing the high-profile case into disarray.

Back in France, novelist and journalist Tristane Banon filed a criminal complaint this week saying that Mr. Strauss-Kahn attacked her in an empty apartment in 2003 during an interview for a book project, struggling with her on the floor as he tried to tear off her clothes.

An official in the Paris prosecutor's office said Friday that a preliminary investigation has been opened into the complaint. The official was not authorized to be publicly named because the investigation is under way.

The probe allows investigators from a special police brigade to question Ms. Banon and those close to her about the 8-year-old incident.

It could also allow French investigators to question Mr. Strauss-Kahn, though most likely not unless and until he returns to France. New York authorities have kept his passport pending a decision on what happens in the case there.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn quit as head of the International Monetary Fund after he was arrested in New York in May based on accusations of assault made by a hotel housekeeper. Mr. Strauss-Kahn denies wrongdoing, and last week, he was released without bail after prosecutors said publicly that the maid has a history of lying.

Questions have also surfaced about the viability of the French accusation against Mr. Strauss-Kahn.

Ms. Banon made no official report of being victimized after the alleged attack, and Ms. Banon's lawyer has not described any physical evidence that could be brought against Mr. Strauss-Kahn.

Ms. Banon has acknowledged the difficulty of proving her case, saying she took action to deal with the trauma of the alleged incident and to refute those who say she's been lying.

She said in an interview with the magazine L'Express that Mr. Strauss-Kahn grabbed her hand and arm before the two fell to the floor of his apartment and fought for several minutes, with the politician trying to open her jeans and bra and putting his fingers in her mouth and underwear.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have called the incident "imaginary" and threatened to file a criminal complaint accusing Ms. Banon of slander.

After the preliminary probe into her claim, which could take weeks or months, the Paris prosecutor's office could decide to drop the case or pursue the investigation, which could eventually lead to a trial.

The probe will help prosecutors determine whether her allegations support a charge of attempted rape, rather than the less serious crime of sexual assault. Under French law, sexual assault is an attack that does not involve an attempt to penetrate the victim. It has a three-year statute of limitations—meaning the 2003 incident would be to old to prosecute—compared with 10 for attempted rape.

[John.hergy]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/dominique-strauss-kahn-case-triggered-painful-memories/story-e6frg6so-1226094474527

Dominique Strauss-Kahn case 'triggered painful memories'

From: AP
July 14, 2011


Dominique Strauss-Kahn accuser Tristane Banon. Source: AP

THE French woman who alleges that Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in 2003 said she finally took legal action because the New York case against the former IMF chief reawakened painful memories.

``I thought you could forget, put things in a box, put it away and in fact this isn't possible,'' Tristane Banon said on France-2 TV.

It was the first TV interview the 32-year-old has given since filing a criminal complaint against Strauss-Kahn on July 5, just as a New York judge lifted his $US6 million ($A5.59 million) bail in the sexual assault case there.

That decision came after New York prosecutors cast down on the credibility of the victim who had lied about her past.

The Guinean immigrant alleges Strauss-Kahn, 62, attacked her on May 14 in his suite at the Manhattan Sofitel. He denies any wrongdoing.

That case, and now the one brought by Banon, put Strauss-Kahn's political career on hold, just as his Socialist Party hoped to see him as their candidate in next year's French presidential race. The deadline for candidacies for the primary was yesterday.

Banon, 32, claims Strauss-Kahn attacked her in an empty apartment during an interview she was conducting for a book.

Strauss-Kahn's French lawyers have filed a complaint for slander against Banon. She claimed on Wednesday that Strauss-Kahn has a faulty memory. Her lawyer, David Koubbi, has said he has evidence, including text messages related to the incident.

A preliminary investigation for attempted rape was launched but it was not immediately known whether her complaint would survive the scrutiny of investigators.

The case could be dropped or pursued. There is a three-year statute of limitations for sexual assault, a misdemeanour in France, but 10 years for attempted rape.

Banon's interview was aired after police questioned her mother as part of the probe into the case. Banon was questioned at length on Monday.

The woman repeated that she had not filed a complaint at the time because she had been dissuaded - by her mother, a Socialist Party politician, by journalists and legal counsellors.

``Its because of the Sofitel incident that this problem is posed (for me) once again ...,'' she said.

``Once more, I'm faced with this incident. It made me think of it again.''

But now, she said, she has a lawyer who ``will see this to the end with me''.

She denied claims by some here that she was seeking publicity or had been manipulated.

Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, said that she had dissuaded her daughter from taking action because ``I thought at the time my daughter had more to lose than to gain''.

``What I underestimated ... is that this would have such a considerable impact on her behaviour, on her life,'' she said.

Mansouret said she met for more than six hours with police, but disclosed nothing.

In Washington, meanwhile, a lead lawyer for Strauss-Kahn said at a news conference exclusively for French-speaking reporters that there was no real significance to be read into the postponing of his client's next court date, which was moved from July 18 to August 1.

The July 18 date was not an audience during which either his team or the prosecution expected to tell the judge ``anything definitive'', William W Taylor III was heard saying as France-2 aired a portion of the news conference.

He also reiterated that Strauss-Kahn will not plead guilty to any of the charges he faces.

It was not clear whether the session was called to prep French reporters on the vastly different US justice system or aimed at assuring they do not somehow damage Strauss-Kahn's case in the public eye.

[John.hergy]

copied from:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-guinean-maid-who-has-accused-former-imf-chief-dominique-strauss-kahn-of-attempted-rape-has-spoken/story-e6frg6so-1226101084284




The Guinean maid who has accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape has spoken




AFP
July 25, 2011





A GUINEAN woman who has accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her in a New York hotel has broken her silence, saying she wants him to go to jail and to clear her name.

"Because of him, they call me a prostitute," she told Newsweek magazine in her first public interviews since the alleged attack by the former powerful French politician in a Manhattan hotel suite in May.

"I want him to go to jail. I want him to know there are some places you cannot use your power, you cannot use your money."

The woman was also to appear on ABC's "Good Morning America" today exactly a week before Strauss-Kahn is due back in court in New York on August 1 for his next hearing on seven charges of attempted rape and sexual assault.

"I want justice. I want him to go to jail," she told ABC after weeks of being held incommunicado in protective custody, according to excerpts released by the US television channel yesterday.


"God is my witness I'm telling the truth. From my heart. God knows that. And he knows that," the 32-year-old woman said.

Strauss-Kahn, a French politician once seen as a leading contender to become the next president of France, has denied all the charges arising from the incident on May 14 in his luxury suite in the Sofitel hotel.

And prosecutors have openly questioned the woman's credibility after she recanted the version of events she had given to a grand jury.

In her interview with ABC, she admitted to making "mistakes" but she insists that from the beginning her account of what happened in hotel room had remained the same.

"I tell them about what this man do to me. It never changed. I know what this man do to me," she told Newsweek.

But the defense has called for all the charges against Strauss-Kahn to be dismissed, and has accused the woman of trying to whip up public opinion.

"This conduct by (the woman's) lawyers is unprofessional and it violates fundamental rules of professional conduct for lawyers," William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman said in a statement.

"Its obvious purpose is to inflame public opinion against a defendant in a pending criminal case."

The woman, whom AFP has chosen not to name in line with its policy to protect alleged victims of sexual assaults, was working as a chamber maid when she says she was attacked in a presidential suite on the Sofitel's 28th floor.

She told Newsweek said she had called out "Hello, housekeeping" as she entered the room, and then a naked man with white hair appeared.

"Oh, my God," she said. "I'm so sorry." And she turned to leave. "You don't have to be sorry," the man allegedly replied. But he was like "a crazy man to me."

She said the man clutched at her breasts and slammed the door of the suite, and then gave a graphic account of what she says happened in the room.

But Strauss-Kahn's lawyers accused her legal team of having "orchestrated an unprecedented number of media events and rallies to bring pressure on the prosecutors in this case after she had to admit her extraordinary efforts to mislead them.

"Her lawyers know that her claim for money suffers a fatal blow when the criminal charges are dismissed, as they must be."

[John.hergy]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43877005/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/






Hotel maid: Dominique Strauss-Kahn looked like a 'crazy man'


'I want him to go to jail,' accuser of former IMF chief says in her first interviews


By Noeleen Walder
Reuters

7/25/2011

NEW YORK — The New York hotel maid who accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her said in an interview published on Newsweek's website on Sunday that he appeared as a "crazy man" and attacked her when she entered his room.

Nafissatou Diallo also gave the newsmagazine and ABC News permission to identify her by name.

The magazine interview marks the first time the 32-year-old Guinean immigrant to the United States has publicly spoken to the media since she shocked the world with allegations that Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from the bathroom of his luxury suite on May 14 and forced her to perform oral sex.

Until now, Reuters had kept to the practice in the United States of protecting the identity of alleged rape victims.

ABC News on Sunday also announced it would broadcast an interview with Diallo on Monday morning.

"I want justice. I want him to go to jail," she said in excerpts from the television interview released on Sunday.

"I want him to know that there is some places you cannot use your money, you cannot use your power when you do something like this," said Diallo, who Newsweek reported cannot read or write.

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One of Diallo's attorneys, Douglas Wigdor, told Reuters she has come forward to let the world know she is not a "shakedown artist or a prostitute."

"She's being attacked ... and she thought it was important to put a name and face to her account," Wigdor said.

She also plans to file a civil lawsuit soon, which means her name would become public, he added.

'I have to tell the truth'

ABC reported Diallo also acknowledged "mistakes" but said that should not stop prosecutors from going forward.


"I never want to be in public but I have no choice," she told ABC News, adding "Now, I have to be in public. I have to, for myself. I have to tell the truth."

Diallo, who Newsweek said had agreed to be photographed for next week's edition, said she saw Strauss-Kahn appear naked in front of her when she opened the door to his suite. He was like "a crazy man to me," she said.

"You're beautiful," she reported Strauss-Kahn as saying, and said he attacked her despite her protestations.

"I said, ‘Sir, stop this. I don’t want to lose my job,’” Newsweek reported Diallo as saying. “He said, ‘You’re not going to lose your job.’”

Strauss-Kahn, 62, has repeatedly denied all the charges against him. In a statement on Sunday, his lawyers called the interview a last-ditch effort by the maid and her lawyers to extract money from the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

She is "the first accuser in history to conduct a media campaign to persuade a prosecutor to pursue charges against a person from whom she wants money," lawyers Benjamin Brafman and William Taylor said.

"Her lawyers and public relations consultants have orchestrated an unprecedented number of media events and rallies to bring pressure on the prosecutors in this case after she had to admit her extraordinary efforts to mislead them."

Her credibility was thrown into question when Manhattan prosecutors revealed Diallo told authorities numerous lies, including fabricating a story about being gang-raped in Guinea in order to gain U.S. asylum. She also changed details of her story about what happened following the purported assault.

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Wigdor said Diallo has worried that prosecutors would drop the charges. "That has been a concern, but we're all hopeful that the district attorney's going to do the right thing," he said.

A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance had no comment on the interviews, saying: "We will not discuss the facts or evidence in what remains an ongoing investigation."

'In seclusion'
After arriving from Guinea in 2003, Diallo told Newsweek she spent years braiding hair before working at a bodega in New York City's Bronx borough. As a maid at the Sofitel hotel, she received $25 an hour plus tips.

Diallo said her husband in Guinea died of an illness but did not provide further details. Roughly two years after being raped by two soldiers in Conakry, the Guinean capital, she fled with her daughter, now 15, to the United States, where she said she has few close friends.

Following the alleged attack, Diallo spent weeks in protective custody, holed up in a hotel with her daughter.

"She's been in seclusion for over two months. She hasn't been able to take a walk in the park," her lawyer said.

French newspaper France Soir reported in a front page headline that David Koubbi, the lawyer for French writer Tristane Banon, who has accused Strauss-Kahn of a 2003 sexual assault, had met with Diallo. It added only that he "was impressed by her courage."

[John.hergy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14271114

25 July 2011
Dominique Strauss-Kahn accuser gives first interview


Nafissatou Diallo appeared on ABC's breakfast TV show, Good Morning America



The New York hotel maid who accuses former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her in a hotel suite has given her first interview.

Nafissatou Diallo told Newsweek magazine that she has told the truth about the incident on 14 May.

The move comes as authorities consider whether to drop charges against him amid doubts over her credibility.

The French politician, 62, who resigned as head of the IMF to defend himself, vigorously denies all the charges.

He has said that what happened with Ms Diallo was consensual, and his lawyers have described the maid's interview as "unseemly".
Media campaign?

Ms Diallo told Newsweek magazine: "I want him to go to jail. I want him to know there are some places you cannot use your power, you cannot use your money."

The 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea told the magazine that she was scared about losing her job when she eventually ran from the room where the incident allegedly took place.

But Mr Strauss-Kahn's representatives accused her of conducting a "media campaign" to persuade prosecutors to pursue charges against the former IMF chief, Reuters news agency reported.

He is charged with seven counts including four more serious felony charges - two of criminal sexual acts, one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse - plus three misdemeanour offences, including unlawful imprisonment.

But some US media reports say the case is close to collapse. Court prosecutors have said that the maid gave false testimony to a grand jury, citing inconsistencies in her account of the sequence of events on the day.

Mr Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest on 1 July and had his $6m (£3.7m) cash bail and bond returned.

Meanwhile, French authorities are investigating allegations that Mr Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape French writer Tristane Banon a decade earlier.

Mr Strauss-Kahn denies any wrongdoing, and has launched a counter-claim, suing Ms Banon for making false statements.

Ms Diallo has also granted an interview to the ABC news network, excerpts of which are due to be broadcast on Monday.

Until she came forward for interview, her name had not been reported by media outlets which normally protect the identities of people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

[John.hergy]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/26/strauss-kahn-nyc-court-date-postponed-to-aug-23



Strauss-Kahn NYC court date postponed to Aug. 23

Published July 26, 2011
| Associated Press



NEW YORK – Dominique Strauss-Kahn's much-anticipated court date in his New York City sexual assault case has been postponed for more than three weeks as prosecutors continue investigating.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers said Tuesday they'd agreed to put off the Aug. 1 date to Aug. 23. They say they hope that by then, prosecutors will have decided to dismiss the case.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office declined to comment on the investigation.

Strauss-Kahn is the former leader of the International Monetary Fund. He is accused of attacking a hotel housekeeper who came to clean his suite May 14. He denies the charges.

Prosecutors said July 1 that the case had weakened because the maid had lied to them about her background and was inconsistent about her actions right after the encounter.

[John.hergy]

With all the charges regarding of false statements, false reports, extortion, perjury, etc. that can and (in my opinion) should be filed against this "person" I think she should be reminded that unlike in Islamic countries making false statements and charges against a non-muslim is a serious offense. And anyone regardless of religion or race or anything else doing such things can receive some serious fines and jail time.





http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-manhattan-maid-who-has-accused-dominique-strauss-kahn-of-sexual-assault-is-threatening-a-civil-suit/story-e6frg6so-1226104004229

The Manhattan maid who has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is threatening a civil suit


From: AFP
July 29, 2011 8:08AM


Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel maid who has accused former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, speaks at a press conference in Brooklyn, New York City. Source: Getty Images

THE Manhattan maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape has spoken of her anguish and her lawyer warned the French politician of a civil suit even if he escapes criminal trial.

Nafissatou Diallo, who accuses the powerful French politician and former International Monetary Fund chief of forcing her into oral sex in his luxury hotel room, appeared before a packed press conference at a New York church.

"We cry every day. We can't sleep," Ms Diallo, an immigrant from the African country of Guinea, said, referring to herself and her 15-year-old daughter.

In a hesitant voice and nervously clasping her hands, Ms Diallo said it was "too much for me, too much for my daughter."

The emotional press conference marked a new level in the publicity drive by Ms Diallo, who came out of hiding on Sunday for the first time since the alleged May 14 crime.

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The Manhattan District Attorney's Office initially pursued charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn aggressively, but later expressed doubts about the maid's credibility, leading to speculation that the sensational case may collapse.

Mr Strauss-Kahn has pleaded not guilty to all charges and his lawyers accuse Ms Diallo of merely pursuing financial gain.

Ms Diallo's lawyer Kenneth Thompson said the DA's office is obliged to prosecute Mr Strauss-Kahn but that a civil suit seeking damages would be filed even if criminal charges were dropped.

"What she wants is justice and if the prosecutors are not going to bring this case to trial then we have to look for justice and what I look forward to is putting this case before a jury," Mr Thompson told the press conference.

Asked when a civil suit could be filed, he said "soon."

Mr Thompson, who met for several hours Wednesday with prosecutors and Ms Diallo, said he was still unsure whether the DA's office would abandon the case.

However, Mr Thompson said that one of the prosecutors' main concerns -- a taped phone conversation where Ms Diallo supposedly discussed going after Mr Strauss-Kahn's wealth -- had now been proved to result from a mistranslation.

Mr Thompson said reports that Ms Diallo had effectively told her friend, an incarcerated fellow Guinean, that she was scheming to obtain money were "not true."

He said that a DA-approved interpreter of Ms Diallo's native Fulani language cleared up the translation at the meeting on Wednesday.

The DA's office has yet to comment on the development which, if confirmed, would substantially repair the maid's damaged credibility.

The press conference was highly unusual for a complainant in a sex crime case, but supporters explained the move as a desperate bid to restore Ms Diallo's honor and give her a chance to tell her side of the story.

Ms Diallo referred to a New York tabloid report claiming that she was a prostitute and said: "A lot of people calling me a lot of bad names. I hear a lot of things, a lot of bad things."

"I say 'God why me, why me?"' she said.

She said her daughter had begged her: "'Please, mom, promise me you stop crying. People call you bad names. People say bad things about you because they don't know you."'

Ms Diallo, dressed in dark grey trousers, a blue jacket and white shirt, left after her brief comments and was followed to the car park by a frantic rush of camera crews.

Mr Strauss-Kahn is not due back in court until August 23 for a hearing which has been delayed several times as prosecutors grapple with the increasingly messy case.

In an interview with ABC television over the weekend, Ms Diallo talked forcefully in heavily accented but mostly fluent English about the sequence of events she says took place in the 28th floor suite at the Sofitel hotel.

She recounted the incident, saying Mr Strauss-Kahn, once seen as a leading contender to be the next president of France, emerged naked from a shower to "grab my breasts" and despite her pleas, forced her head down to his penis.

[John.hergy]

http://www.mygripeanthing.com/2011/07/29/black-activists-rally-around-dsk-accuser/

07/29/2011



Black activists rally around DSK accuser



THE former hotel maid whose name is now known throughout the world stood on a small square platform in the lobby of a vast evangelical church, surrounded by men: her lawyer, church reverends, prominent black activists – a collection of charismatic speakers in a charismatic city.

She was introduced with soaring rhetoric by the Reverend Alfonso Bernard, who said she had suffered a terrible assault and would now speak for victims of rape and abuse everywhere.

Her voice quivered. “My name is Nafissatou Diallo,” she said.

Ms Diallo had appeared on television earlier in the week, describing the alleged attempted rape she claims to have suffered at the hands of former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who denies all the allegations.

Yesterday, she said: “I have been called a lot of bad names, a lot of bad things.” A New York newspaper had suggested that she was a prostitute, the district attorney’s prosecutors had appeared in court to cast doubt on her credibility. The case against her alleged attacker appeared on the brink of collapse. Mr Strauss-Kahn seemed about to go free.

“I was crying, my daughter was crying. One day, my daughter said, she told me: ‘Mum, please stop crying. People tell bad things about you because they don’t know you. You have to remember, this guy is a powerful man . . . the people that you work with, all our neighbours, all the people back home . . . these people say good things about you because they know you.’

“I said: ‘I will be strong for you and for every other woman in the world. What happened to me, I don’t want that to happen to any other woman.’ “

She thanked everyone and then stepped back.

Her lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, a member of the Christian Cultural Centre in New York, had persuaded his own pastor to draw together the leaders of African-American churches and campaign groups.

Noel Leader, head of the police lobby group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, said: “This sister, this victim of a sexual abuse case . . . one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed against a woman, was victimised twice. Once by Dominique Strauss-Kahn . . . but she was also victimised by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.”

Mr Thompson blamed the District Attorney’s office for leaking details of a conversation his client was said to have had with an African prisoner in Arizona, which implied that she wished to “shake down” Mr Strauss-Kahn, details he was now sure had been mistranslated from her native Fulani dialect.

[John.hergy]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/maid-in-dsk-case-destroyed-her-own-case-report/823050/


Maid in DSK case destroyed her own case: report

Posted: Wed Jul 27 2011, 08:56 hrs New York:
Nafissatou Diallo


Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel maid, who had accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, may have ruined her own case, according to sources, who say that there are now even more conflicting versions of what happened on May 14.

Strauss-Kahn, 64, allegedly forced Diallo to perform oral sex. He was taken into custody a few minutes before his flight departed for Paris.

In recent weeks, his lawyers have asked the government to drop the case since it emerged that Diallo had lied to investigators and had criminal connections.

"There's so many inconsistencies now it's incredible," one source, told The New York Post. "Its like multiple choice -- pick a version."

This week, Diallo broke her silence by giving long interviews to Newsweek and ABC.

One discrepancy, the source, told The Post that in an earlier account Diallo said that she and Strauss-Kahn did not speak, but in the interviews she recalled, he said, "You're not going to lose your job."

"It's a mess," one source said. The next court appearance for the former IMF chief has been postponed from August 1 to 23.

[John.hergy]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/charges-against-dominique-strauss-kahn-could-be-dropped-this-week/story-e6frg6so-1226119014431


Charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn could be dropped this week

From: AFP
August 21, 2011


THREE months after his shocking arrest on sex assault charges, fallen French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn could learn his fate as soon as tomorrow, as speculation builds over the case's dismissal.

In the latest twist in a saga that sent shockwaves through France, the lawyer for the hotel maid who has accused Mr Strauss-Kahn of forcing her into oral sex said that all or some of the charges may be dropped.

Kenneth Thompson, who represents 32-year-old Guinean immigrant Nafissatou Diallo, made his statement after prosecutors scheduled a new meeting with his client for tomorrow, the eve of the next court hearing.

“My interpretation of that letter is that they're going to announce that they're dismissing the case entirely, or some of the charges,” Mr Thompson told The New York Times, referring to a letter he received from prosecutors.

“If they were not going to dismiss the charges,” he added, “there would be no need to meet with her. They would just go to court the next day to say, 'We're going to proceed with the case.”'

Another attorney for Ms Diallo, Douglas Wigdor, confirmed the meeting but declined to speculate on the outcome.

He said Mr Thompson would accompany Ms Diallo to the meeting, and described the letter from prosecutors as “very negative and disparaging.”

Mr Strauss-Kahn, who quit as head of the International Monetary Fund after his arrest, has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.

His attorneys have said the charges should be dropped so he can return to France, where until recently he was seen as a frontrunner for the presidency.

Tuesday's hearing in New York state court will be the first since city prosecutors announced they had serious doubts about Ms Diallo's credibility.

In the run-up to the hearing before Judge Michael Obus, the District Attorney's Office insisted the investigation into the allegedly brutal May 14 attack in the Manhattan Sofitel was ongoing.

However, expectations have been growing that the DA may be forced to drop what was originally presented as a strong case against Mr Strauss-Kahn.

The first blow to prosecutors was the revelation that Ms Diallo lied to immigration officials on her asylum application about a gang rape she said took place in her West African homeland.

That was seen as making her an easy target for Mr Strauss-Kahn's attorneys when she took the stand in a trial that would in large part come down to her word against that of Mr Strauss-Kahn.

On Friday, reports in The Wall Street Journal and the online Daily Beast quoted unnamed sources saying that Mr Thompson had negotiated weeks ago with Mr Strauss-Kahn's side about dropping the charges in exchange for a cash payoff.

The reports were not confirmed but added to the cloud hanging over prosecutors, who in court would have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Amid a slew of negative media coverage about Ms Diallo - including so-far unproven allegations that she discussed with a friend the possibility of making money from Mr Strauss-Kahn - she and Mr Thompson launched a media blitz in late July.

The offensive, including print and TV interviews with Ms Diallo and a press conference at a big African American church in New York, went some way to resurrecting her public image.

However, it is very unusual for complainants in sex crime cases to go public and legal experts say that Ms Diallo's multiple statements regarding her allegations could make her even more vulnerable on the witness stand.

In a further indication that her lawyer thinks the criminal trial will not take place, Ms Diallo filed a civil suit seeking damages against Mr Strauss-Kahn.

This could give defence lawyers even more ammunition in a criminal trial, as they would likely argue that the maid's relative haste to file a civil suit shows she is only interested in getting compensation.

Prosecutors could possibly ask the judge for more time to investigate the allegations against the 62-year-old Mr Strauss-Kahn. They could also do this before Tuesday via a letter to the court.

But unless there is a postponement, two main options remain for Tuesday: prosecutors telling the judge they plan to go ahead with the case, or prosecutors moving to dismiss charges.

[John.hergy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14637803

23 August 2011

Strauss-Kahn New York sexual assault case dismissed


A New York judge has dismissed the sexual assault case against former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

The move came as prosecutors cited doubts over the credibility of his accuser, 32-year-old hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, was accused in May of attacking the African immigrant as she entered his hotel room to clean it.

The ruling means he is a free man, though he still faces a civil suit Ms Diallo filed this month.

"Our inability to believe the complainant beyond a reasonable doubt means, in good faith, that we could not ask a jury to do that," Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon told Judge Michael Obus.
'Hurried sexual encounter'

The dismissal of criminal charges at the New York State Supreme Court will take effect once the judge rules on an appeal against the move.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, considered a French presidential contender before the case, arrived for the hearing in lower Manhattan on Tuesday in a six-car motorcade with his wife Anne Sinclair.

Outside, about two dozen placard-waving protesters denounced the result, their cries audible from the packed courtroom on the 13th floor.


Ms Diallo claimed Mr Strauss-Kahn had confronted her in his luxury hotel suite in the city on 14 May and forced her to perform oral sex.

Prosecutors said DNA evidence had found that a "hurried" sexual encounter did occur between the two, but it did not establish Ms Diallo's claim that it was non-consensual.

In a statement released by his legal team on Tuesday, Mr Strauss-Kahn said: "These past two-and-a-half months have been a nightmare for me and my family.

"I want to thank all the friends in France and in the United States who have believed in my innocence, and to the thousands of people who sent us their support personally and in writing.

"I am most deeply grateful to my wife and family who have gone through this ordeal with me."

He added: "We will have nothing further to say about this matter and we look forward to returning to our home and resuming something of a more normal life."
'Rush to judgment'

Outside the court on Tuesday, Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, William Taylor, accused the media, police and prosecutors of a "collective rush to judgment".

"I want to remind you how uncritically the media examined this case from the beginning without even looking at the improbability of the story on its face," he said.

In court papers filed on Monday, Manhattan prosecutors said they did not feel at ease pursuing the case, citing deep concerns over Ms Diallo's credibility.

She "has not been truthful on matters great and small" and has an ability to present "fiction as fact with complete conviction," they wrote.

Medical and DNA evidence, meanwhile, was "simply inconclusive" as proof of a forced sexual encounter, they added.

Mr Strauss-Kahn's was forced from his job as director of the International Monetary Fund after his arrest on board an Air France jet in May.

But within weeks, prosecutors said there were inconsistencies in Ms Diallo's accounts of the alleged assault and of her background.

It was revealed that she had been recorded discussing the case with a jailed friend and appeared to refer to Mr Strauss-Kahn's wealth, which his supporters said pointed to a financial motive.

Prosecutors also said Ms Diallo had not been truthful in tax documents, nor on an asylum application form in her account of a gang rape she said she suffered back in Guinea.

Mr Strauss-Kahn was later freed from his restrictive bail conditions.

Ms Diallo then took the unusual step of giving media interviews, defending her allegations against him, and on 8 August, she filed a civil suit against Mr Strauss-Kahn.

The Frenchman's legal travails are not yet over: authorities in Paris are still considering whether to press charges against him over a claim by French writer Tristane Banon that he tried to rape her during a 2003 interview.

Ms Banon made the allegation after the Diallo case, saying that she feared no-one would have believed her beforehand.

[John.hergy]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/judge-drops-dominique-strauss-kahn-rape-charge/story-e6frg6so-1226120852885

Strauss-Kahn hails end to 'nightmare'

From: AFP
August 24, 2011

FORMER IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has hailed the end of a "terrible ordeal" as a US judge dismissed all sex crime charges against him.

It draws the curtain on a torrid saga that derailed the stellar career of one of the world's most powerful men.

Judge Michael Obus last night took just minutes to approve the prosecutors' request to abandon a case they said had been made untenable as a result of the constant lying of the hotel maid accusing Mr Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault.

"I'm eager to return to my country," Mr Strauss-Kahn said, pledging to speak at "greater length" once back in France.

Mr Strauss-Kahn said he was "relieved" for his wife, children and "everyone who has supported me at this time by sending me letters and emails." He called the legal saga a "nightmare."

There was a last-minute delay while an appeals court considered an attempt by the maid's lawyer to have a special prosecutor take over the flailing investigation.

The moment the court denied the appeal, Mr Strauss-Kahn was free.

However, if the former International Monetary Fund chief was thinking of an immediate return to France, where until the scandal he'd been seen as a likely winner of upcoming presidential elections, fate intervened in the form of a rare earthquake.

The bizarre twist prompted early closure of courthouse offices and meant Mr Strauss-Kahn would have to wait until tomorrow to collect his passport, which was confiscated right after his arrest on May 14.

The 62-year-old looked relieved as he left the building, accompanied by his millionaire French wife Anne Sinclair, who has stood by his side ever since the sensational sex scandal erupted.

Even if he returns to France, Mr Strauss-Kahn's reputation has been badly sullied by an affair that forced him to resign as head of the IMF and put his French presidential dreams on hold.

Demonstrators, many of them women, hurled slogans outside of the courtroom.

One, referring to Mr Strauss-Kahn by the initials by which he is known in France, shouted: "DSK, you're a sick bastard and your wife is even sicker."

The District Attorney's Office defended its decision to drop the high profile case, saying that despite strong initial evidence of a possible forced sexual encounter, there was no definitive proof and the maid herself could no longer be believed.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said she did not take the decision "lightly," but added that the accuser, 32-year-old chambermaid Nafissatou Diallo, had "severely undermined her reliability as a witness in this case."

Later, District Attorney Cyrus Vance himself issued a statement justifying his decision as "absolutely the right one, legally and ethically."

"If we are not persuaded - beyond a reasonable doubt - that a crime has been committed, based on the evidence we have, we cannot ask a jury to convict," he said.

He sent his written statement to journalists after the earthquake forced him to abort a press conference. The case garnered world attention on May 14 when Mr Strauss-Kahn was escorted away by New York police from his first-class seat on an Air France plane moments before its departure for Paris.

At first, prosecutors said they had strong evidence that Mr Strauss-Kahn forced Diallo into oral sex in his luxury Manhattan hotel room and attempted to rape her. But the case began to unravel weeks later when prosecutors announced that Diallo had been caught lying on her asylum application form, including about a gang rape she had suffered back home in Guinea.

She was also said to have discussed Mr Strauss-Kahn's wealth in a telephone conversation with a Guinean friend currently held in a US prison, and to have changed sworn testimony to the grand jury considering the case.

Prosecutors stressed that Strauss-Kahn did engage in a sex act with the maid in his Sofitel hotel room, ejaculating over her maid's uniform.

However, they said they could not prove to a jury that the sex was forced. In their 25-page motion asking the judge to dismiss all charges, prosecutors said Diallo was "persistently, and at times inexplicably, untruthful in describing matters of both great and small significance."

"The nature and number of the complainant's falsehoods leave us unable to credit her version of events beyond a reasonable doubt, whatever the truth may be about the encounter" at the hotel, they added.

Mr Strauss-Kahn could, in theory, return to frontline French politics, but few in France are expecting a prominent role any time soon.

"I don't think he can hope for a centrestage role in French politics now," said Gerard Grunberg of the prestigious Sciences-Po school in Paris, where Mr Strauss-Kahn once taught.

"His public image is much deteriorated, and the Socialist Party and its leaders must be mad at him for having missed this moment of opportunity. Neither the public nor the party want to see him back on the frontline."

[John.hergy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14674073


Dominique Strauss-Kahn given back passport


Former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been given back his passport after being cleared this week of sexual assault charges in New York.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, has said he cannot wait to return to France.

He had been held under restrictive bail conditions in New York since May, when a 32-year-old hotel maid accused him of sexually assaulting her.

Prosecutors dropped the charges amid concerns about Nafissatou Diallo's credibility.

Ms Diallo, an immigrant from the African country of Guinea, has also filed a civil suit.

While DNA evidence indicates a sexual encounter occurred between the two in a suite at the Sofitel Hotel in May, Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyers maintained it was consensual and prosecutors were unable to determine whether force had been used.

Before the affair, Mr Strauss-Kahn had been seen as a likely candidate to run for president of France next year.

[John.hergy]

Sexual abuse of any form is a life-crushing event. But just as devastating to everyone around a person and the person that is accused falsely of such wrong doings.

The sad fact is that not everyone who “screams” or files charges that they have sexually assaulted was actually assaulted. Under the same token not everyone that says they did not do anything to another person is innocent.

As I said at the beginning of this incidence as it started to unfolded a lot of things seemed odd about this case. But now that the main event is over, I suspect most of the people that were actually behind this case got what they wanted - for DSK’s to waste a lot of money defending himself and being required to pay for a lot of useless things in order to be out of jail, but mostly that his political career is likely ruined.

[John.hergy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14777793

4 September 2011

Dominique Strauss-Kahn heads back to France


Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has left New York to return to France.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, his wife Anne Sinclair and his daughter left their rented house on Saturday afternoon and went to JFK airport, where they are thought to have boarded a plane for Paris.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, once seen as a possible French presidential contender, has been in the US since being arrested in May on sex assault charges dropped last month.

The 62-year-old denies the allegations.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, who resigned in the days after his arrest, had his passport returned last week.

Hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, who accused Mr Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her in his hotel room, is pressing her claims in a civil lawsuit.
Second allegation

Mr Strauss-Kahn and his wife were seen arriving at the Air France terminal before going through security, AP reports.

They did not say where they were going but French media reported that they were expected to board a flight to Paris due in the French capital at 08:35 local time (06:35 GMT).

Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested on a plane in New York in May and spent a week in jail followed by six weeks of house arrest after charges were filed against him.

The case was dropped late last month at the request of prosecutors who had concerns about Ms Diallo's credibility.

With DNA evidence indicating a sexual encounter did occur between the two in a suite at the Sofitel Hotel in May, Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyers maintain it was consensual and prosecutors were unable to determine whether force had been used.

Mr Strauss-Kahn faces another sexual assault allegation when he returns to France after novelist Tristane Banon accused him of trying to rape her during an interview in 2002.

Ms Banon made the allegation after the Diallo case, saying that she feared no-one would have believed her beforehand.

The former IMF chief had been considered the Socialist Party's front-runner to take on French President Nicolas Sarkozy in presidential elections next year.