Strauss-Kahn Accuser to Testify
The New York Times reports:
The housekeeper who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in his hotel suite has vowed to tell her story from the witness stand, a lawyer for the woman said on Monday.
“She is going to come into this courthouse, get on that witness stand and tell the world what Dominique Strauss-Kahn did to her, ” Kenneth P. Thompson, the housekeeper’s lawyer, said outside the main criminal courts building in Lower Manhattan.
Mr. Thompson said it was preposterous to suggest that the woman had a consensual sexual encounter with Mr. Strauss-Kahn in the Sofitel New York.
The lawyer made his comments as Mr. Strauss-Kahn pleaded not guilty to charges that included attempted rape and sexual abuse — a court proceeding that took four minutes, yet drew live international coverage inside the courtroom and a circuslike atmosphere outside. Dozens of photographers were joined unexpectedly by some 200 hotel workers who were bused to the scene by the Hotel and Motel Trades Council.
The theatrics outside — the workers yelled “Shame on you!” and held their noses as Mr. Strauss-Kahn entered the courthouse — far outweighed the legal significance of what happened in the courtroom: The court proceeding lasted only about as long as it takes a world-class runner to run a mile, and there were no substantive developments in the case.
The defense asked for six weeks to review whatever evidence the prosecution turns over before deciding what motions it will file on Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s behalf. The prosecution said it would file a voluntary disclosure form — which may contain statements from Mr. Strauss-Kahn and other information about its evidence — this week.
A nine-page defense demand for discovery, in which Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers list a variety of prosecution evidence that they are seeking to review, submitted on Monday, gives some suggestion of what the defense expects the prosecution may present at trial.
Perhaps most significant, Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers, William W. Taylor III and Benjamin Brafman, ask that the prosecution say whether it intends to introduce evidence of “uncharged criminal conduct” when it presents its case or during the prosecution’s cross-examination of Mr. Strauss-Kahn, if he testifies, and, if so, “the nature of said acts.”
“Furthermore,” they continued, “please disclose any and all evidence that is relevant to such uncharged criminal conduct,” which might include allegations of other sex crimes.
The document also seeks all of the messages and data on Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s iPad, computer and cellphones, which were seized by the police, and any photos, video or other evidence from the hotel, the hotel workers’ union, Air France or McCormick and Schmick’s, a seafood restaurant where Mr. Strauss-Kahn had lunch with his daughter after the encounter at the hotel.
The court proceeding was less revealing. After a court clerk read the charges against Mr. Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, she asked him, “How do you plead?”
Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, stood, crossed his arms in front of him and muttered, “not guilty,” in a thick French accent.
