Today Former International Money Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn Was Indicted On 7 Counts Of Non-Consensual Sexual Misconduct & Assault For Allegedly Attacking An INNOCENT BLACK Hotel Maid.
A Hardworking, Lower Income Widow From Guinea, Africa Who Was Just Trying To Do Her Job & Support Her Daughter.
This Is To Be Considered A Historic Day In New York City Because Usually People Like DSK Are NEVER Indicted Or Punished For Crimes Against Women Like Strauss-Kahn's Victim.
Usually People Like DSK Are Allowed To Go Free Or The Victim Comes Up Missing "Sopranos" Style.
Strauss-Kahn Was However Granted Bail On Very Tight Restrictions & Several Conditions.
Those Conditions & Restrictions Are As Follows:
$1 Million Cash Bail
$5 Million Insurance Bond
Surrender All Travel Documents (Passports, etc.,)
24-7 Confinement To His New York City Apartment In Manhattan With Guard Monitoring & Video Surveilliance.
He Must Also Wear An Electronic Monitoring Ankle Bracelet
I'd Say Those Are Pretty TOUGH Conditions Wouldn't You Agree?
I'm Sure The Court Was Attempting To Protect The Victim (Hotel Maid) So That Strauss-Kahn Can't Do Anything To Her Before His June 6th, Court Arraignment Hearing.
But What About His Wife & Daughter Attempting To Contact The Victim Or Attempting To Influence Her In Some Way?
Considering How Wealthy Strauss-Kahn's Wife & Family Are It Would NOT Seem Unreasonable Or Impossible That One Of Them May Attempt To Influence Her Into Dropping The Charges.
If I Were The NYC Police, Prosecution Team & Victim's Attorney, I Would Most Certainly Keep A Close Eye On Both DSK & His Family.
Ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn indicted in alleged sex assault on hotel maid, granted $1M bail
Accused sexual predator Dominique Strauss-Kahn can soon say "adieu" to Rikers Island.
The French politician was indicted Thursday for the attempted rape and sex abuse of a hotel maid - and then granted $1 million cash bail, along with house arrest and the posting of a $5 million bond.
But he won't leave jail until Friday because officials are working out the logistics of his release. Strauss-Kahn was set to return Thursday evening to Rikers Island, where he was held under suicide watch.
"It's a great relief to the family to have him back with them," defense lawyer William Taylor said outside court. "Now we can focus on some other aspects of the case."
Under terms of his bail package, the just-resigned head of the International Monetary Fund must remain under armed guard around the clock, agree to electronic monitoring and surrender his travel documents.
The cost of the conditions: a staggering $200,000 a month, prosecutors said. The $5 million bond will come from the family putting up their Washington home.
The decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus came over the protests of prosecutors, who wanted the 62-year-old Socialist Party bigwig kept in lockup.
"The proof against him is substantial, and it continues to grow every day," said prosecutor Artie McConnell.
The victim's account of the hotel horror was a "compelling and unwavering story about what occurred in the defendant's room," he said.
The judge's ruling came after Strauss-Kahn - who appeared in court tanned, smiling and wearing a gray suit - was indicted on seven counts stemming from Saturday's encounter at the Sofitel hotel in Times Square.
The charges included two counts of criminal sexual acts, and single counts of attempted rape, first-degree sex abuse, unlawful imprisonment in first degree, third-degree sex abuse and forcible touching.
The charges carry up to 25 years in prison. He's due back in court on June 6 for arraignment.
Lawyers on both sides argued over the defendant's release, with prosecutors saying he's a flight risk and should be tossed back in Rikers Island.
The defense insisted he's deserves bail and said he would be guarded by private security officers who would tackle him if he tried to flee.
"The prospect of Mr. Strauss-Kahn teleporting himself to France and living there as a an accused sex offender is ludicrous," argued defense lawyer Taylor.
Scores of reporters and the curious began lining up outside Obus' 13th floor courtroom before noon for the 2:15 p.m. hearing.
His third wife, former TV reporter Anne Sinclair, appeared stressed out as she entered the hushed courtroom with her daughter for a hearing that drew international attention.
She wore a black blazer and a grey dress along with her tense demeanor.
The defense team included five attorneys and two others. Strauss-Kahn arrived about 20 minutes after the hearing was supposed to begin, tanned and smiling despite his time behind bars.
He wore a gray suit and blue shirt, without a tie.
So IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's Accuser Is A BLACK, Uneducated Female Immigrant From Guinea, Who Resides With Her Teenage Daughter In South Bronx, NYC.
(FYI: Guinea Is A Country In West Africa.)
I Wonder If Her Ethnicity & Background Will Affect The Outcome Of This Case?
It Shouldn't!!
Just Because Strauss-Kahn Is A Powerful, Wealthy White European Doesn't Mean He's Innocent Or Incapable Of Such Acts.
Especially Since DNA Evidence Does Exist!
And Of Course Strauss-Kahn Is Going To Use "Consensual Sex" As His Legal Defense!
Whenever A Black Woman Accuses A White Man Of Raping Her, They ALWAYS Say It Was "Consensual Sex" To Make It Seem As If Black Women Are Loose Sluts.
Either That Or They Cry "Extortion"!
Well Black Women Aren't Sluts & We're NOT Trash To Be Thrown Away After Being Used By Powerful White Men Or Powerful Black Men!
And For The Record No I Don't Hate Men. I'm Married To One.
Strauss-Kahn Has A History Of Such Deviant Behavior & Its Time He Pay Via The Criminal Justice System Versus Paying Off His Victims To Keep Quiet.
Now I Hear He's On Suicide Watch At Rikers (Where He Belongs).
So What? He'll Live!
He's Too Vain To Kill Himself.
But What About The Emotional State Of His Victims????
Notice I Said VICTIMS!!!
So I'll Pose This Very Important Question Again:
Should The Fact That Strauss-Kahn's Accuser Is A BLACK, Uneducated Female Immigrant From Guinea Matter?
Stay Tuned.
I.M.F. Chief May Claim Consensual Sex as a Defense
As Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, spent his first full day on Rikers Island, the hotel housekeeper who accused him of sexual assault was struggling with what her lawyer said was a life upended by the case.
The woman, 32, a widowed immigrant from Guinea who was granted asylum seven years ago, has not been publicly identified and has made no public statements about what prosecutors have charged was an attack by Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a 62-year-old Frenchman, as she prepared to clean his hotel room on Saturday.
But her lawyer said she had been unable to return to her job at the Sofitel New York or to her home, as both had attracted swarms of international news media.
And as she remained in seclusion, there were suggestions that Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a powerful, wealthy politician who was widely regarded as a strong candidate to run against the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, next year, would put forward a defense that any sex had been consensual.
During a hearing on Monday in Criminal Court in Manhattan, a lawyer for Mr. Strauss-Kahn, Benjamin Brafman, told a judge he believed the “forensic evidence” was “not consistent with forcible encounter.”
Mr. Brafman did not disclose what forensic evidence he was referring to, or even if he had been apprised about what forensic evidence the prosecution had collected. Even so, that statement seemed to suggest the defense may acknowledge that a sexual encounter had occurred.
Indeed, on Tuesday, a person briefed on the case said the defense believed that any sex act may have been consensual.
That elicited an angry response from a lawyer for the woman. He dismissed any suggestion that the housekeeper, whom he described as “a very proper, dignified young woman,” had agreed to have sex with Mr. Strauss-Kahn.
“There is no question this was not consensual — she was assaulted and she had to escape from him, which is why when she finally got out of the room, she reported it to security immediately,” said the lawyer, Jeffrey J. Shapiro. “It doesn’t matter what Mr. Brafman says, and it doesn’t matter what the defendant says. Her story is her story, which she has told to everyone who asked her, and she is telling the truth. She has no agenda.”
Mr. Shapiro said his client “did not even know who this guy was” until she saw news accounts, adding, “She is a simple housekeeper who was going into a room to clean a room.”
A man who said he was the housekeeper’s brother said his sister did not know Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s identity when she reported the events to the hotel and, later, to police. The man, who manages a restaurant in Harlem, said she did not learn of Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s status until pictures of him appeared in the news.
He said he had called his sister several times on Saturday afternoon, but she did not answer the phone. She eventually called him back from a police station, he said.
“She just told me that something really bad had happened and that she was with the police and the doctors,” he said.
The woman, who does not have a formal education, emigrated from Guinea with her daughter, leaving that country under what Mr. Shapiro said he understood were “difficult circumstances.” The lawyer said she sought and was granted asylum in the United States, although he said he was unsure of her immigration status.
The woman, who speaks French and some English, is a widow, though the lawyer said he was unaware of the timing or the circumstances of her husband’s death.
Mr. Shapiro said his client was very proud of her job, which she had held for three years, and the ability it gave her to support herself and her 15-year-old daughter.
“She would have done nothing to jeopardize this job,” he said. “She needs this job; this job was her lifeline. She is not a woman of resources; she is not a woman of pretense. She is just a simple woman who is grateful to have a job where she can provide food and shelter for herself and her daughter.”
His client, he said, has enormous pride, and is unsure what her life will be like going forward.
“The fact of the matter is this is a situation that she didn’t choose,” the lawyer said. “She’s been victimized not only by what happened in that hotel room but by the fact that her life has been taken away from her for who knows how long.”
No lawsuit, he said, had been considered or discussed.
The case, Mr. Shapiro added, has turned the woman’s life upside down; she has been isolated from her life and her routines.
At Rikers, meanwhile, Mr. Strauss-Kahn was placed on suicide watch Tuesday, according to a law enforcement official. The official said the action, which will put him under closer supervision, was taken as a result of Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s intake evaluation, which was based on the nature of the charges, whether he had ever been in jail before and other factors, rather than on any gesture or attempt.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s defense team is likely to be back in Criminal Court on Friday, when a grand jury is expected to hand up an indictment against him. If an indictment is not issued this week, he would be eligible for immediate release.
A Criminal Court judge, Melissa C. Jackson, has already refused Mr. Strauss-Kahn bail, although his defense team is free to seek bail from a higher-ranking judge in State Supreme Court. It was unclear if the defendant would quickly try again for a bail package, or wait for further developments before presenting his arguments again.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who was being held in protective custody, had one visitor on Tuesday, but correction officials would not disclose the person’s identity.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn was served a breakfast of wheat cereal, whole-wheat bread, fresh fruit and a beverage. For lunch, he was given vegetarian chili with rice, green beans, a carrot-and-celery salad, bread and a beverage. Veal patties and noodles were on the dinner menu.
Tristane Banon, accuser of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in '02 sex assault, to renew legal claim
A French writer who says she was assaulted by the IMF's sex-crazed chief nine years ago will file a legal complaint against him, her lawyer said Monday.
Tristane Banon, 31, described Dominique Strauss-Kahn as behaving like a "rutting chimpanzee," when he allegedly tried to tear off her clothes during an interview in 2002.
Banon consulted with an attorney at the time, but chose not to take legal action under "pressure" from her mother - a Socialist Party official and friend of Strauss-Kahn.
Banon's godmother is Strauss-Kahn's second-wife.
IMF CHIEF IN SEX ASSAULT CASE CONSENTS TO DNA TEST
After hearing of Strauss-Kahn's alleged assault of hotel chambermaid in New York, Banon decided to renew her legal claim.
"She knows she'll be heard and she knows she'll be taken seriously," her lawyer David Koubbi told French radio.
Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, says she regrets advising her daughter to drop the case against Strauss-Kahn.
"I bear a heavy responsibility," she said.
A noted lothario dubbed the "Great Seducer," and "Hot Rabbit," Strauss-Kahn landed in serious trouble Saturday when he allegedly attacked the maid at the luxury Sofitel in Midtown.
Police pulled him off an Air France flight at Kennedy Airport hours later as he tried to leave the country.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, has been charged criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. His lawyers say he will plead not guilty.
A Socialist Party heavyweight, Strauss-Kahn had been a leading candidate to become France's next president, but his arrest has likely derailed his chances.
The International Monetary Fund has already appointed his deputy to take temporary control of the global economic body.
Also, Piroska Nagy, the Hungarian economist who had an affair with Strauss-Kahn when he was her boss at the International Monetary Fund, wrote to the IMF board saying he pressured her into having sex, according to The New York Times.
She called him "a man with a problem that may make him ill-equipped to lead an institution where women work under his command."
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Sources: AFP, CNN, Daily Mail, Fox News, McClatchy Newspapers, NY Daily News, NY Times, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps
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