Report: DSK lawyers, prosecutors to meet
Attorneys for former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will meet with New York City prosecutors Wednesday to discuss a possible dismissal or plea deal in the crumbling sex assault case against the French politician, according to a New York Times report.
Strauss-Kahn is charged with attempting to rape a Manhattan hotel maid and forcing her to perform oral sex, but doubts about his accuser's credibility have compromised the case and resulted in his release from a pricey house arrest arrangement.
According to the Times, the district attorney's office is still deciding whether to pursue a plea bargain or dismiss the charges altogether. A decision is not expected to be reached Wednesday, a senior law enforcement official told the paper.
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According to the report, a plea deal would likely involve misdemeanor charges and would involve no jail time but prosecutors may not have ruled out offering a felony plea.
However, the New York Post reported Tuesday that prosecutors are preparing to dismiss the case, citing an investigator involved in the matter.
Despite the accuser's credibility issues - she was found to have lied on her asylum application and tax returns and her account of the alleged attack have varied - prosecutors have continued to insist there is enough evidence that a sexual assault may have occurred. Strauss-Kahn has denied the charge, claiming his encounter with the maid was consensual.
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The maid, a 32-year-old woman from Guinea, claimed that Strauss-Kahn attacked her May 14 as she entered his Sofitel New York hotel suite to clean, pulling her into the bathroom and forcing her to perform oral sex.
But questions surfaced last week as to her account - she told investigators that she fled the attack and immediately reported the incident to the hotel but later revealed that she cleaned another room and returned to Strauss-Kahn's suite to clean there as well before reporting the encounter.
She also admitted fabricating an account of her life on her asylum application - namely that her husband was imprisoned, tortured and killed by pro-government forces and she was gang-raped. She still claimed to have been raped, but under different circumstances.
She also admitted falsifying her tax returns, claiming a friend's child as one of her dependents.
The Times also reported last week that she may have connections to drug dealing and money laundering - charges that her attorney denied. Her legal team has also taken action on some of the allegations against her, filing a libel suit against the New York Post for reports claiming that she was a prostitute.
