US 'ready to dismiss' sex attack charges
Source: Agencies |
August 22, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
PROSECUTORS will ask a judge to dismiss all charges in the sexual assault case against former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn at a court hearing tomorrow, according to the New York Post.
The Manhattan district attorney's office will file a motion recommending the case be dropped and laying out the events that led to that point, according to the Post.
The case has teetered since late June when prosecutors disclosed that Nafissatou Diallo, the maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of attacking her in a New York hotel suite in May, had lied on her US asylum application and about other aspects of her past.
That revelation threatened her credibility as a witness and led prosecutors to release Strauss-Kahn, 62, from house arrest, though he remains barred from leaving the country. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
The Post reported that the prosecutors' motion would detail concerns about Diallo's credibility and make it clear they do not believe they can prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
A spokesman for the district attorney's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Speculation that the charges would be dropped intensified on Saturday, when Diallo's lawyers said she had been summoned to a meeting with prosecutors today and suggested it could be a sign they were preparing to dismiss the charges.
Strauss-Kahn, who has denied the allegations, was once seen as a leading contender for the French presidency until his arrest when Diallo accused him of sexual assault on May 14 at the Sofitel Hotel in New York.
He was forced to resign as head of the International Monetary Fund a few days later.
Even if the charges are dismissed, he faces a civil suit filed by Diallo two weeks ago and a complaint filed in France by journalist and writer Tristane Banon, who has alleged he tried to rape her in 2002.
The Manhattan district attorney's office will file a motion recommending the case be dropped and laying out the events that led to that point, according to the Post.
The case has teetered since late June when prosecutors disclosed that Nafissatou Diallo, the maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of attacking her in a New York hotel suite in May, had lied on her US asylum application and about other aspects of her past.
That revelation threatened her credibility as a witness and led prosecutors to release Strauss-Kahn, 62, from house arrest, though he remains barred from leaving the country. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
The Post reported that the prosecutors' motion would detail concerns about Diallo's credibility and make it clear they do not believe they can prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
A spokesman for the district attorney's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Speculation that the charges would be dropped intensified on Saturday, when Diallo's lawyers said she had been summoned to a meeting with prosecutors today and suggested it could be a sign they were preparing to dismiss the charges.
Strauss-Kahn, who has denied the allegations, was once seen as a leading contender for the French presidency until his arrest when Diallo accused him of sexual assault on May 14 at the Sofitel Hotel in New York.
He was forced to resign as head of the International Monetary Fund a few days later.
Even if the charges are dismissed, he faces a civil suit filed by Diallo two weeks ago and a complaint filed in France by journalist and writer Tristane Banon, who has alleged he tried to rape her in 2002.
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