Strauss-Kahn case twist turns prospects upside-down

Strauss-Kahn pleads not guilty to sex assault

 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn enters Manhattan
criminal court with his wife Anne Sinclair for his arraignment on Monday.
His next appearance is July 18.
(Louis Lanzano/Associated Press)

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund,
pleaded not guilty in New York City Monday to charges that he sexually assaulted a maid in the luxury suite of a hotel in mid-May.
Strauss-Kahn, once considered a likely candidate for the presidency of France, appeared in a New York courtroom Monday morning to enter his plea.
Speaking in a strong voice and flanked by his defence lawyers and wife Anne Sinclair, Strauss-Kahn answered not guilty to the accusations.
State Supreme Court Justice Michael Orbus told Strauss-Kahn he needed to appear in court and had a right to be present at his trial, to which the economist said "yes." His next court date was set for July 18.
 
Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. is the prosecutor in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case. (David Karp/Associated Press)
Strauss-Kahn, 62, has been out on bail of $1 million US cash and a $5 million bond and has been living under house arrest with his wife in a newly rented, $50,000-a-month Tribeca townhouse. He is under guard at his own expense.
The case is expected to turn on the credibility of the maid, 32, and the diplomat. She reported the assault May 14, leading police to pull Strauss-Kahn from an Air France flight about to leave for Paris and arrest him. His subsequent treatment by the U.S. media and justice system stunned French society.
He has denied seven charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.
The prosecutor in the case is Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who has been Manhattan district attorney for just 1½ years. Strauss-Kahn is being defended by lawyers Benjamin Brafman and William W. Taylor III. Brafman previously won the acquittal of Sean (P. Diddy) Combs in 1999 on weapons and bribery charges.

DNA matched, prosecutors say

The maid at the Sofitel near Times Square in Manhattan told police Strauss-Kahn chased her down a hall in his hotel suite May 14, tried to pull down her pantyhose and forced her to perform oral sex.
Prosecutors said last month that evidence against Strauss-Kahn was building by the day. Tests have found Strauss-Kahn's DNA matched material on the woman's uniform shirt, people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.
By the end of the case, "it will be clear that there was no element of forcible compulsion in this case whatsoever," Brafman said outside court after the brief hearing. "Any suggestion to the contrary is simply not credible."
Brafman's similar comments at an earlier court hearing have led to speculation that the defence will argue the encounter was consensual. He repeated again Monday that he and co-counsel William Taylor would not be commenting on the specifics of the case.
"We will defend this case in the courtroom," he said, urging there not be a rush to judgment.

Hasn't worked since

The maid's lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, said she would testify in court, and he condemned speculation that she either made up the attack or exaggerated the claims.
"The victim wants you to know that all of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's power, money and influence throughout the world will not keep the truth about what he did to her in that hotel room from coming out," Thompson said.
Thompson said the 32-year-old woman has not worked since the encounter, because she is traumatized, and she will not settle the case or back down.
"She is standing up for women around the world sexually assaulted who are too afraid to come forward," he said.read more.