Charges against Strauss Kahn dropped

[mr friendly guy]

linky

Dominique Strauss-Kahn smiles in court as judge dismisses sex charges

* From correspondents in New York
* From: NewsCore
* August 24, 2011 3:53AM


A JUDGE tonight granted New York prosecutors' request to dismiss the criminal sex assault charges against former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

The order took effect shortly after Judge Michael Obus announced his decision, when an appeals court denied a request by Strauss-Kahn's accuser for a special prosecutor in the case.

As expected, Obus dropped the seven-count indictment in front of a packed courtroom a day after the Manhattan District Attorney's office filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing credibility issues with Strauss-Kahn's accuser, Nafissatou Diallo.

In a statement released shortly after Strauss-Kahn left the court smiling, he called the past couple of months a "nightmare" for him and his 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 said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Outside the courtroom, his lawyers praised Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. for his "courageous decision" to drop the charges.

Following them, a stone-faced Kenneth Thompson, who represented Diallo, had harsh words for New York's top prosecutor.

"District Attorney Vance has abandoned an innocent woman and has denied an innocent woman the right to get justice in a rape case," the lawyer said.

"If Dominique Strauss-Kahn was a plumber from the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn, do you really think that the district attorney would be running away from the DNA evidence?" he questioned, in sharp contrast to an insistence by Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, William W. Taylor, that the case was "not about wealth or power or race."

Diallo's lawyers had asked a state court to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the criminal case, "because of the DA's actions, abuse of confidence, unfair treatment, bias and prejudices, the DA is unfit to try this case," Thompson said in court papers, alleging that the DA's office leaked "false information to the press that may have irreparably damaged their client's credibility." When their request was denied by Obus, the lawyers filed an emergency appeal.

Diallo, a 33-year-old Guinean immigrant, alleged she was assaulted by Strauss-Kahn, 62, when she came to clean his suite at Manhattan's Sofitel hotel on May 14.

Strauss-Kahn had pleaded not guilty to the indictment that included criminal sexual assault in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, forcible touching and other charges.

The charges cost him his job as head of the IMF and dashed hopes he could lead the French Socialists against Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential election.

Given the discussion his arrest generated previously on this board, I thought those who debated would be interested in this development.

[K. A. Pital]

Lesson 1: don't lie to the court. Ever. Even if DSK raped her, she basically destroyed any chances of proving that with the bunch of lies she fed to the authorities.

[Darth Wong]

I love the way the people who ranted against DSK have been all over news forums finding excuses to refuse admitting they were hasty, saying that it's unfair to let him off just because she's a career liar with a history of claiming sexual abuse for personal gain. Perhaps they don't understand what it means to have a criminal case which is based entirely on "he said, she said", and then find out that she is a pathological liar.

Here's an article with greater detail on this woman's sordid history of lies:

(Reuters) - The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who hoped to be the next French president, collapsed because what prosecutors believed was strong testimony deteriorated into a fabric of lies.

Manhattan prosecutors, who arrested Strauss-Kahn, 62, on the word of 32-year-old Nafissatou Diallo, said on Monday she told them lie after lie, leading them to urge the judge overseeing the case to dismiss all charges against the former head of the International Monetary Fund.

"The complainant has been persistently, and at times inexplicably, untruthful in describing matters of both great and small significance," prosecutors said in a detailed 25-page filing to New York state Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus.

"In our repeated interviews with her, the complete truth about the charged incident and her background has, for that reason, remained elusive."

Strauss-Kahn was seen as a leading contender for the French presidency until his arrest May 14 on attempted rape and sexual abuse charges, throwing the French political scene into chaos and forcing him to resign from the IMF days later.

On Monday, prosecutors said that because they could not believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the Guinean maid was telling the truth, "we cannot ask a jury to do so."

The document said the sexual encounter at the center of case, which generated lurid headlines on both sides of the Atlantic, likely lasted no more than nine minutes.

In the hours after Strauss-Kahn was first detained, a forensic team and prosecutors established a sexual encounter had indeed taken place, and that it had been very brief, suggesting to investigators that it had not been consensual.

Based on her account of the attack and that "no red flags" in her background had been immediately obvious, prosecutors brought the case to a grand jury in order to formally indict Strauss-Kahn, the filing said.

But the case soon fell apart. In one instance, forensics swabs picked up no trace of Diallo's DNA in a sink where she told prosecutors she had spit after the encounter.

Doctors also concluded that "redness" on Diallo's genitals could not conclusively be attributed to an attack, as her attorneys have claimed.

Aside from ambiguous medical and forensic evidence, prosecutors detailed how they began to uncover lies about her past and mysterious, and previously undisclosed, sums of money being deposited into her bank account.

Diallo's lawyers, who have been harshly critical of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's handling of the case, filed a motion hours before the prosecutor's filing asking a judge to replace his office with a special prosecutor -- something experts say is unlikely to happen.

VARYING ACCOUNTS

Perhaps most damning of all, prosecutors said, where three separate version of events Diallo told them about her actions immediately after the encounter with Strauss-Kahn in Suite 2806 of the Sofitel Hotel near Times Square.

* In version one, under oath before the grand jury, she said she had run down the hall of the hotel's 28th floor where she was found frightened and cowering by her supervisors.

* In version two, she told prosecutors that immediately after the encounter, she went to another room to continue her cleaning duties and only encountered her supervisor by chance at the supply closet.

* In the third version, Diallo said she went to the other hotel room only briefly to retrieve supplies.

"These varying accounts also make it difficult to ascertain what actually occurred in the critical time frame," when the incident occurred, they wrote.

Strauss-Kahn will return to court Tuesday, when Obus will almost certainly grant the district attorney's request to drop the case. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, praised prosecutors for recognizing that his client was innocent.

The move to dismiss the case had been widely expected after prosecutors first revealed concerns about Diallo's credibility in late June. But in their filing on Monday, prosecutors revealed the full extent of their distrust of Diallo.

In particular, prosecutors described an impassioned and tearful Diallo telling them about a previous gang rape in Guinea -- which turned out to have been a lie.

"That it was told to prosecutors as an intentional falsehood and done in a completely persuasive manner -- identical to the manner in which she recounted the encounter with the defendant -- is also highly significant," they wrote. "But most significant is her ability to recount that fiction as fact with complete conviction."

The fact that her story keeps changing is quite devastating to the case, as is the last bit: she lied about being gang-raped in Guinea in order to get into the United States as a refugee. When someone has a history of lying about sexual assault for personal gain, how can you ever take her seriously again?

[Lord Zentei]

After perjuring herself before the court and scuttling the man's electoral prospects and reputation, she'll be lucky not to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit or two herself.

[Sea Skimmer]

Aye much as soon as she lied to the grand jury her case was screwed, even if she didn't have all the other lies behind her. Making your self into a criminal while attempting to press charges is a pretty good way to fail. Also the case always did have the nagging question behind it from day one, of the very means by which the police arrested Strauss-Kahn. The police had the hotel call him, tell him they’d found one of his cellphones and he told the hotel to find him at the airport. Now, what man, having just raped someone and only a short wait away from boarding a plane out of the country is going to tell anybody where he is?

[Flagg]

This is the conundrum of rape accusations. If the cops and prosecutors had waited and checked the woman out before jumping the gun and ruining this mans life (who I might add, seems a shady character due to other accusations made by presumably more reputable women) then they would have been accused of blaming the victim and not taking rape seriously.

[Darth Wong]

This is the conundrum of rape accusations. If the cops and prosecutors had waited and checked the woman out before jumping the gun and ruining this mans life (who I might add, seems a shady character due to other accusations made by presumably more reputable women) then they would have been accused of blaming the victim and not taking rape seriously.

His shady past would make him the ideal target of a false-rape accusation. Just like a prostitute is the ideal target for a rapist, a guy with a history of sexual harassment is the ideal target of a false-rape scammer.

[Flagg]

I just hope the cops turn around and press charges against her.

[CaiusWickersham]

After perjuring herself before the court and scuttling the man's electoral prospects and reputation, she'll be lucky not to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit or two herself.

Not to mention receiving a one-way ticket back to Guinea after lying about a rape to get asylum.

[mr friendly guy]

After perjuring herself before the court and scuttling the man's electoral prospects and reputation, she'll be lucky not to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit or two herself.

Not to mention receiving a one-way ticket back to Guinea after lying about a rape to get asylum.

Interesting. Is she already an American citizen? If so can she be deported? And if she isn't, and just allowed to stay, has there been precedents where people like her have been deported?

[Edward Yee]

Actually, Diallo filed a civil suit against DSK almost two weeks ago now, even before the prosecutor's office's motion to drop the criminal case, in the Bronx instead of Manhattan where the encounter took place. One of DSK's lawyers has said that his defense team is considering an attempt to move it to Manhattan. (The chances of a perjury charge are "unlikely" according to this article though.)

Money Is Now at Fore of Strauss-Kahn Case

[ComradeClaus]

I had suspicions since day one.

Too bad he can't get his job back. Could he still run for french president? Get brownie points for being put through so much trouble?

As a New Yorker, I hate to think of the taxes wasted on all this.

[Teebs]

I had suspicions since day one.

Too bad he can't get his job back. Could he still run for french president? Get brownie points for being put through so much trouble?

Unlikely I would say. The other women coming out with allegations of harassment and also just the fact that this kind of dirt sticks, even if the case is dropped, mean that he's too damaged to succeed in my opinion. Especially as all of the other PS frontrunners will have been consolidating their positions in their absence.

[Rabid]

Could he still run for french president?

O_O

Fuck no, man !!! You don't know the half of it, but let me tell you, the man is burned, crisped even, here. All his so-called "socialist" friends (neo-liberal pro-budget-cuts petit bourgeois would be more accurate) of the Parti Socialiste are congratulating themselves about the victory of justice over "unjust and disgusting" accusations ; but the people, the man of the street, has seen his true nature : that of an amoral predator, an egoist and an opportunist you can't trust.

And they are sick of him.

The man knows it and will, hopefully, have the dignity to never represent himself in an election. Unfortunately, I doubt he has so much dignity in the first place.

[mr friendly guy]

Fuck no, man !!! You don't know the half of it, but let me tell you, the man is burned, crisped even, here. All his so-called "socialist" friends (neo-liberal pro-budget-cuts petit bourgeois would be more accurate) of the Parti Socialiste are congratulating themselves about the victory of justice over "unjust and disgusting" accusations ; but the people, the man of the street, has seen his true nature : that of an amoral predator, an egoist and an opportunist you can't trust.

And they are sick of him.

The man knows it and will, hopefully, have the dignity to never represent himself in an election. Unfortunately, I doubt he has so much dignity in the first place.

Could you elaborate on that, particularly the part I underlined. As someone unfamiliar with French politics I am curious, given that the charges were dropped and his accuser appears to have a tendency to lie about rape claims to gain sympathy, how does the man on the street see his "true nature."

I am not disagreeing with you (since I don't know enough to judge either way), but I am curious how they came to that conclusion given what we saw unfold in NY.

[Rabid]

Basically, the medias took advantage of the affairs in the US to dig into the life of DSK, and reported their findings to the public.

It is not the first time the man's sexuality posed problem to him. He his a total skirt-chaser, but not in a "good" way, and there are several women back home who profited of the occasion to unite and speak up of the various abuses DSK allegedly submitted them to - mostly sexual harassment, and at least one attempted rape that I know of. It's almost pathological with the guy.

This is only the "private" part of DSK persona, if I can use a terrible pun. Its "public" part is also under heavy scrutiny (as a politician, a the chief of the IMF, etc...), journalists searching for accusations corruption, traffic of influence, things like that.


The man is not innocent, and he his paying the price of a growing discontent of the french people against its "Elites", corrupted and uninterested by the increasing hardship of the common citizen in the wake of the global recession and the slow collapse of the capitalist system.


There is also a basic problem of PR, as this is a man that while saying he is Socialist, an ideology that should strive to do everything in its power to help the common man and end all forms of misery ; was the chief of the IMF, extolling the merits of austerity and budget cuts (which puts millions out of jobs), fuming cigars and enjoying the finest meals, living an hedonistic life. It's his... hypocrisy, his... disconnection to the reality of the common man, added to everything I said before... this is what is costing him every chance of winning the Presidential election at least.

This was the man that was presented by almost every media as the best bet of the PS to win over the most unpopular President of the 5th Republic, and he is revealed to be a total scumbag...

Peoples are just disgusted.

[Zed]

There is also a basic problem of PR, as this is a man that while saying he is Socialist, an ideology that should strive to do everything in its power to help the common man and end all forms of misery ; was the chief of the IMF, extolling the merits of austerity and budget cuts (which puts millions out of jobs), fuming cigars and enjoying the finest meals, living an hedonistic life. It's his... hypocrisy, his... disconnection to the reality of the common man, added to everything I said before... this is what is costing him every chance of winning the Presidential election at least.

Such a horrible thing, leading the IMF and having a good life. Everyone knows that rich socialists should always give up all their money to the poor and that socialists shouldn't strive to influence sensible monetary policy.

Or wait, there actually is such a thing as the center left.

[Simon_Jester]

Zed, the whole point is that from the point of view of France, Strauss-Kahn is a right wing politician claiming to espouse left wing views. His preferred economic policies are, by European standards, those of the right; viewed by the European left they are not sensible, because they create massive unemployment and hardship in the countries where they are applied.

A man who claims to be a socialist, while preferring policies that enrich finance and corporations at the average worker's expense, is going to be viewed as a hypocrite.

[Rabid]

Thanks Simon. I was going to try to answer Zed, but words failed me. That must my lack of practice of the English language, surely...

[Zed]

I'm really not sure you can call the massive loans to assist countries in need right-wing. You can't honestly believe the middle classes and the poor won't suffer immensely if one of these countries went bankrupt.

[Rabid]

You don't know a quarter of the story, so, really, just trust me when I tell you the man is politically dead, at least for five year, and possibly, hopefully, forever.

[K. A. Pital]

I'm really not sure you can call the massive loans to assist countries in need right-wing. You can't honestly believe the middle classes and the poor won't suffer immensely if one of these countries went bankrupt.

You mean IMF loans aren't a tool of exploitation tied to various measures that can wreck a nation's economy? I heard mostly that from the left. Even from the centre-left, that is left-wing liberals.

I also heard that loans aren't a good thing par se, because there's such thing as debt slavery. I don't hear the left saying bank loans are a good thing, especially bank loans to needy people. Apply this to countries. DSK is dead. He led one of the pillars of neoliberalist crap sandwich-feeding institutions, the god damn IMF. What is worse, leading Goldman Sachs?

[Lord Zentei]

It's easier to procure loans than gifts, and given supply of loanable funds...

Eh, fuck it. I'm not going to defend loans over handouts in this thread. Regardless of all that crap, fuck DSK, he's a sleazebag no matter where you stand in politics.

But I stand by the assertion that the bitch needs a lawsuit or two of her own.

[K. A. Pital]

Like I said, she ruined her own chances even if DSK raped her. Both of them had a crap history, and the case just fell apart. She can have some joy in that she ruined DSK's career. DSK can be glad he escaped prison.

[Rabid]

What is worse, leading Goldman Sachs?

Speaking of that, I heard in a meeting Sunday that the future leader of the European Central Bank, the one to replace Trichet, is supposedly going to be an ancient of Goldman Sachs.

But I stand by the assertion that the bitch needs a lawsuit or two of her own.

All in due time, man. All in due time... Trust in the judiciary system to fuck over people who can't really defend themselves punish those who violated the law.