Tag: Dominique Strauss-Kahn (page 2)

Excellent statement by William Taylor and Ben Brafman in response to the outrageous interviews the accuser's lawyer in the Dominque Strauss-Kahn case has drummed up for her. (The Newsweek interview took place over three hours in her lawyer's office.)

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

This conduct by lawyers is unprofessional and it violates fundamental rules of professional conduct for lawyers. Its obvious purpose is to inflame public opinion against a defendant in a pending criminal case. The fact is, however, that the number of rallies, press conferences, and media events they have orchestrated is exceeded only by the number of lies and misstatements she has made to law enforcement, friends, medical professionals and reporters. It is time for this unseemly circus to stop.

As I said in the earlier post, a motion to restrict the accuser and her lawyers' extra-judicial comments is needed immediately. And the District Attorney should seriously consider dropping the charges altogether after this blatant attempt to poison the potential jury pool. [More..]

Update: Newsweek has an interview The Maid's Tale, with the DSK accuser, Nafissatou Diallo.

Time for a gag order immediately in the Dominque Strauss-Kahn case. The hotel maid accusing him is going public, embarking on a media tour, starting with ABC News: GMA on Monday and Nightline on Tuesday.

In an exclusive television interview, ABC News' Robin Roberts speaks with the hotel employee who alleges she was sexually assaulted by former International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

For the first time viewers will hear, in her own words, her version of the events that allegedly took place at the Sofitel Hotel in New York in May. ...The interview airs on Tuesday, July 26 on "Nightline."

ABC shows a picture of the accuser, but still doesn't mention her name? How absurd. I hope Ben Brafman is spending today drafting a Motion to Ban Extra-Judicial Comments by Trial Participants. This case needs an order like the one entered in the Kobe Bryant case: [More...]

Yesterday I wrote at length on details not adding up about the recorded phone call between Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser and her boyfriend/fiance/husband in the Arizona immigration jail on May 15, the day after the encounter at the Sofitel Hotel. The call was first reported by The New York Times.

When the conversation was translated — a job completed only this Wednesday — investigators were alarmed: “She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ ” the official said.

The Wall St. Journal has new details on the phone call , all coming from the prosecution and law enforcement. The article was written after the writer spoke with lead prosecutor Joan Iluzzi-Orbon. The new disclosures make even less sense. [More...]

[Note: This is so long that it's likely to interest only those closely following the developing details of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case.]

One of the details not adding up in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, which I don't believe will be a case much longer, is the phone call the accuser had with her jailed friend (also described as her boyfriend or fiance) 28 hours after she reported her encounter at the Sofitel with DSK.

When the conversation was translated — a job completed only this Wednesday — investigators were alarmed: “She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ ” the official said.

....Suspicions of the woman’s associations arose relatively quickly: within a week of Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, the authorities learned of a recorded conversation between the subject of a drug investigation and another man, who said his companion was the woman involved in the Strauss-Kahn matter, according to another law enforcement official.

Reportedly, he was arrested when attempting to obtain 400 pounds of marijuana in exchange for counterfeit designer goods from Chinatown somewhere in the Southwest. The Times reported: [More...]

Alpha Condé , the President of Guinea addressed the Dominique-Strauss Kahn case today:

We are both [himself and Strauss-Kahn] members of the Socialist Party, the French Socialist Party is a member of the Socialist International, so I am very happy for him and I hope his sufferings will not have a lasting effect,” Condé told RFI at the African Union summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, after the latest twist in the sexual assault case.

He said his country will do what they can to help the accuser.

“Obviously, the lady is Guinean. It is the duty of the head of state to defend all Guinean citizens. We will see how we can come to her aid, because Guinea has to defend its children wherever they are. We will see how we can help her.”

A cynical person might ask whether, given that statement, she really still needs asylum in the U.S. (in the event she is prosecuted and convicted of fraud for her original application. Here's one example of such a prosecution.)

Update (7/5): The accuser has sued the New York Post for libel over the article.

Is anyone surprised by today's New York Post article alleging that Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser was a "working girl"? I opined last night,

The only remaining viable theories are: (1) It was a set-up (2) He paid her for the sex or (3) She consented, thinking she was going to paid, and got angry when he didn't offer money, didn't pay enough or refused to pay. While normally, paying for sex would be a crime, in this case, just like the rape claim, if he denied it, proving it would require believing her, and that's out of the question now.

Of course, a prostitute can be sexually assaulted and no one is saying she shouldn't be believed on that ground. [More...]

I've been waiting all day to learn the story behind the phone call with the incarcerated boyfriend of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser, and here it is.

He was in an immigration jail in Arizona, the call was recorded, it took place 28 hours after she claimed to be raped, and the DA's office finally got around to having it translated from a dialect of Fulani to English. The money quote:

When the conversation was translated — a job completed only this Wednesday — investigators were alarmed: “She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ ” the official said.

This case is toast. It's not illegal to have sex with a hotel maid. The only remaining viable theories are: (1) It was a set-up (2) He paid her for the sex or (3) She consented, thinking she was going to paid, and got angry when he didn't offer money, didn't pay enough or refused to pay. While normally, paying for sex would be a crime, in this case, just like the rape claim, if he denied it, proving it would require believing her, and that's out of the question now. [More...]

As expected, Dominique Strauss-Kahn's bail was modified today to a personal recognizance bond as the DA's office told the Judge about the problems with the accuser's credibility. In a letter to Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, the DA's office didn't mince words. The accuser repeatedly lied to prosecutors and investigators -- about a prior gang rape that never happened, about details of the incident with DSK, and more -- lies she later acknowledged. [More...]

The New York Times reports the Dominique Strauss-Kahn prosecution may be falling apart due to problems with the accuser's credibility. Prosecutors are going to agree to a reduction in his bail conditions on Friday -- to a personal recognizance bond without monitoring conditions -- and charges may ultimately be dropped.

The Times reports the accuser has lied repeatedly to law enforcement since reporting the sexual assault allegation. The lies weren't about the incident with DSK, but about her asylum application and possible ties to drugs and money laundering. Keep reading, you won't believe it.

She's on tape the day after the incident talking on the phone to a jail inmate accused of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana about the benefits of pursuing charges against DSK. This same man is "one of several individuals" in several states who made multiple cash deposits into her bank account totaling $100,000. She denied knowing about the deposits, saying her fiance [who apparently is the jail inmate]and friends must have made them. She's paid hundreds of dollars a month in phone bills to five different phone companies, but told investigators she only had one phone. [More...]

How long did police hold Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the office of a detectives' unit before formally arresting him, Mirandizing him and bringing him before a Judge? Why wasn't he brought to a jail to await the judge? Why did they wait until late Sunday afternoon to bring the accuser in for a lineup -- so they could make sure she had enough time to see his face plastered all over TV (which she did?)

Here's the Disclosure Statement the District Attorney filed today.

May 14:

• 4:40 pm: Police remove him from jetway
• 5:00 pm: Arrive at JFK Port Authority Precinct. He's handcuffed (in custody, not free to leave.)
• 5:15 pm: En route to Manhattan Special Victims Squad
• 5:40 pm: At Manhattan Special Victims Squad, still hasn't been able to call the consulate or a lawyer
• 9:00 pm: Still at Manhattan Special Victims Squad and still hasn't been able to call a lawyer. He asks them if he needs a lawyer. They answer, it's his right in this country. They add they don't know if he has any kind of diplomatic status. He says:

  No, No, No, I'm not trying to use that. I just want to know if I need a lawyer

  Answer: That's up to you.

• 10:55 pm: Still at the Manhattan Special Victims Squad, has talked to his lawyer, they still are asking him if he wants to talk, he says no.
• 11:20 pm: Still at Manhattan Special Victims Squad, they offer him something to eat.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have written a letter to Manhattan DA Cy Vance complaining about leaks of information, which they attribute to New York police. The letter has been filed with the court.

The letter also states they have uncovered material to undermine the credibilty of the hotel maid accusing DSK of sexual assault.

“Indeed, were we intent on improperly feeding the media frenzy, we could now release substantial information that in our view would seriously undermine the quality of this prosecution and also gravely undermine the credibility of the complainant in this case.”

The letter was also a discovery request. Apparently, what's being leaked in the media hasn't yet been turned over to the defense. Defense lawyers shouldn't have to learn the evidence against their client from media reports consisting of selectively leaked information from anonymous cops.

Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has found a place to live pending trial, and moved in tonight. It's a luxury townhouse in Tribeca that was on the market for $14 million and costs $50k a month to rent.

The DA's office has beefed up the prosecution team, replacing the current prosecutor with two senior prosecutors. [More...]