I suggested yesterday that readers take the statements by the lawyer for the alleged victim about injuries to the alleged victim, etc., with a grain of salt.
I had confidence that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office would not be proceeding as it is unless the DA’s office had information in a detail and of a nature not yet revealed in the disclosure letter the DA sent to Strauss-Kahn’s lawyer. That letter was intended to meet the legal minimum in disclosing potentially exculpatory material regarding the statements by the alleged victim to the police and investigators.
Given this report by The NY Post that the alleged victim worked as a prostitute with hotel guests, it is not hard to see where this is going and why the DA is taking a fresh look at the case:
Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s accuser wasn’t just a girl working at a hotel — she was a working girl.The Sofitel housekeeper who claims the former IMF boss sexually assaulted her in his room was doing double duty as a prostitute, collecting cash on the side from male guests, The Post has learned.”There is information . . . of her getting extraordinary tips, if you know what I mean. And it’s not for bringing extra f–king towels,” a source close to the defense investigation said yesterday….Allegations that she worked as a hotel hooker may explain why Strauss-Kahn insists their encounter was consensual. His defense attorneys refused yesterday to comment on the damning evidence — or say whether he paid her for sex.Sources also told The Post Strauss-Kahn’s probers uncovered evidence that she was part of a pyramid scheme that targeted immigrants from her native Guinea.”We have people who have been victimized, who have claimed she ripped them off. Nice working people from her neighborhood,” a source said….
Twenty-eight hours after the alleged sexual assault, the woman talked to her boyfriend in an immigration jail in Arizona — saying “words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ ” The New York Times quoted an official saying.
The Manhattan DA is under intense criticism for backing away from the house arrest for Strauss-Kahn, and the alleged victim’s lawyer is trying to inflame public opinion against the DA.
But if the DA has doubts about the case and the alleged victim’s story, then he is doing absolutely the right thing is reevaluating whether to move forward with a prosecution.
It may be that at the end of the day the Manhattan DA’s office does prosecute Strauss-Kahn, because rape should be prosecuted even when the victim is a hooker and scamster.
By taking a step back and reevaluating, the Manhattan DA is doing what Mike Nifong in the Duke Lacrosse case never did, caring about the facts. For that courage the Manhattan DA will come out of this case looking pretty good.
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