News analysis
Newsbook
French politics
The crumbling case against DSK
Jul 1st 2011, 18:18 by The Economist online | PARIS
JUST as France was beginning to pick up the pieces after the shock arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in May on charges of attempted rape and sexual assault, the country today faced the stunning news that the case was beginning to fall apart. At a brief hearing on July 1st, a Manhattan judge decided to release Mr Strauss-Kahn from house arrest, without bail, after prosecutors expressed doubts about the credibility of the hotel chambermaid who brought the charges. The question now is not only whether the case will collapse altogether, but whether DSK, as he is known in France, could even revive his political career.
The latest twist concerns serious doubts about the maid’s credibility. A day after the alleged assault, she made a telephone call to a jailed man, recorded by the police, in which she discussed possible financial gain from the case, according to two officials quoted in the New York Times. He and others had deposited as much as $100,000, said the report, into her bank account over the past two years. There was also inconsistency in her story about her application for asylum in the United States from her home country, Guinea, according to a letter from the district attorney’s office to the defendant’s lawyers, as well as tax fraud.
None of which necessarily means that her allegations are therefore false. The hotel maid’s lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, insisted outside the Manhattan courtroom today that “she has never once changed a single thing” to her story about the sexual assault itself. DNA evidence suggests that a sexual encounter did indeed take place. However, even if the allegations are true, the maid’s credibility has already been destroyed, and this alone will seriously weaken any chances of obtaining a conviction.
This extraordinary turn in the saga raises numerous questions, not least of them why it took so long for the New York prosecutors to uncover the credibility problem. For France, which has been gripped by the affair, the burning question is whether Mr Strauss-Kahn might now be acquitted, and if so whether it is too late for the ex-IMF boss to return to his home country, and even run in the 2012 presidential election as the Socialist candidate against President Nicolas Sarkozy.
France seems to be divided. From the start, and unlike in America, 57% of French people thought that the whole affair was a conspiracy. Although they were shocked by the accusations, and many women’s groups were emboldened by the case to speak about sexual harassment by politicians, the French were almost as indignant at the way DSK was treated. The “perp walk” was singled out as a humiliating breach of the principle of the presumption of innocence. If he is acquitted, Mr Strauss-Kahn could well benefit from sympathy at the idea of a man destined for the French presidency brought down by an overly aggressive American justice system.
Certainly, the Socialist Party is delighted by today’s news. Martine Aubry, the party leader, who this week declared her own candidacy for the Socialist primary in October, said she “hoped with all her heart” that Mr Strauss-Kahn would “get out of this nightmare”. Long before his arrest, and while he was still at the IMF, she had made a pact with Mr Strauss-Kahn that the two of them would not run against each other for the Socialist nomination, and she has often appeared a reluctant candidate. In theory, were he to be acquitted, she could stand down. But nominations for the primary close on July 13th, which, unless the rules are rewritten, may be too late for DSK; he is due to appear in court again on July 18th.
Would voters be ready to forgive Mr Strauss-Kahn if the case falls apart? It is not clear. Since his arrest, various stories that used to circulate only among inner Parisian circles have emerged about his persistent womanising, and in particular allegations of sexual assault in 2002 by Tristane Banon, a young writer. The French are famously tolerant of extra-marital affairs; but even they draw the line at aggression. Over the past month or so, the mood has changed. Thanks to the DSK affair, two women brought charges of sexual assault against Georges Tron, an ex-minister, who was promptly dismissed from government, a move unthinkable in the pre-DSK era.
Yet nobody is ever quite dead in French politics, and voters like to reward those they see as having paid for their offences. After all, Alain Juppé, the current foreign minister, was convicted of political corruption in France, only to be reinvented as an authoritative political figure. Recent history suggests DSK’s resuscitation, even if not in time for 2012, cannnot be ruled out.
About Newsbook
In this blog, our correspondents respond to breaking news stories and provide comment and analysis. The blog takes its name from newsbooks, the 16th-century precursors to newspapers, which covered a single big story, such as a battle, a disaster or a sensational trial
Advertisement
Most commented
- Libya: Keep calm, keep going
- French politics: The crumbling case against DSK
- Space exploration: The end of the Space Age
- Libya, Europe and the future of NATO: Always waiting for the US cavalry
- Lexington: Bargaining and blackmail
- Germany and China: Mr Wen goes to Berlin
- Greece's agony: What have we become?
- The founders and slavery: John Jay saves the day
- Economist debate: Rebuttal
- Greece and the euro: The abuses of austerity
Over the past five days
Most recommended
- Space exploration: The end of the Space Age
- Germany and China: Mr Wen goes to Berlin
- Greece's agony: What have we become?
- Greece and the euro: The abuses of austerity
- Lexington: Bargaining and blackmail
- Gay marriage: New York says "I do"
- Quantifying history: Two thousand years in one chart
- China's future: Rising power, anxious state
- America's penal system: Sing Sing or the lash
- The founders and slavery: John Jay saves the day
Over the past seven days
Advertisement
Subscribe to The Economist's free e-mail newsletters and alerts.
Subscribe to The Economist's latest article postings on Twitter
See a selection of The Economist's articles, events, topical videos and debates on Facebook.
Readers' comments
The Economist welcomes your views. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers. Review our comments policy.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in to your account.
Don't have an account? Register
Sort:
"The “perp walk” was singled out as a humiliating breach of the principle of the presumption of innocence."
I thought there wasn't a presumption of innocence in France.
Sounds like the maid was an agent of Lagarde.
I always figured it was just a pay dispute.
http://www.economist.com/comment/922161#comment-922161
Regards
I'm sorry but WFT!!!! If he's not guilty I think European bans on "perp walks" stand mightily vindicated. In any case, these "walks" violate the presumption of innocence.
On the other hand, even if the maid lied in another context, that hardly proves she did here.
I still stand by my initial comments in May. It was wrong for people to have presumed DSK guilty. I thought there was more to the incidence than available pbulic information. I still think that there is more to the story. I think that something happened in that hotel but I do not see how DSK would have violently assaulted that woman the way her attorney has described.
As Morani ya Simba said, even if the maid lied about her tax / asylum status, even if she turns out to have been part of a criminal network, that doesn't prove she lied here. Do you really want to have a country where anyone who has ever committed a crime can be raped, because they have no credibility to testify against their attacker?
On the other hand DSK, like all defendants, deserves the presumption of innocence. And if the maid was taped telling someone she wanted to accuse him for financial gain, that would be a cause for reasonable doubt. Just don't extrapolate that into saying that every illegal immigrant with dodgy papers is fair game for rapists.
So, I guess that's it then. No need for a trial.
As long as you can show that the complainant lied about something else totally unrelated to the incident, or, in her 15 Warhol minutes, sees a chance for gain, or has dodgy friends, or appears to be a bit sleazy, then you don't need to hold a trial, take evidence, weigh its probvative value...
... because now it doesn't really matter whether anyone ever determines if there was a sexual assualt, or if the defendant is actually guilty of the charge or not.
The inescapable corollary is pretty clear: if you're rich and powerful, and have good lawyers, you can sexually assault as many women as you want so long as they all lied about something or other or cheated on their taxes, or some such thing, at some time during their lifetime.
Conversely, if you're poor, if you're an illegal immigrant, if you have ever cheated on taxes, or cheated on your spouse, or have friends in prison, or heaven only knows what else, you'd better never find yourself in need of the help of the police or in any situation where you might have to testify in court. You just blew your chance at protection under the law.
Can't see why anybody would be uncomfortable with that.
Kenneth Thompson must be unhappy that the millions of dollars aren't a mine for his support of a wrong victim anymore
if DSK can become a new candidate, we keep in mind that he would represent the socialists and globalisation
If she lied to the USCIS and about her claim vs. DSK she should be deported back to her country where she can continue to pursue her civil case is she so decides.
The accuser will now be fighting off real attackers as the police pry into her bank accounts and drug dealings. She will beg DSK for forgiveness in hope that her jail time will be cut short.
Sexual encounter occurred according to DNA evidence. end of story.
The best DSK can say is that it was actually consensual.
Victims don't stop being victims if they lie on their taxes.
To kxbxo
With respect, I think that you are mistaken. A case such as this one has only two witnesses. One of them accuses the other of a vicious crime, but if her word can't be trusted, then why should we believe her?
As I understand US law (and granted, that's not very far), if she lied to the Grand Jury, which even the prosecutor has admitted, then she has perjured herself and that's taken very seriously indeed in the US.
People have to be convicted beyond reasonable doubt in the US; if the only witness has been proved to have lied in the past, and about matters linked to this case, how can her testimony be trusted?
You may well not like that as a summary, but please, show me my mistake(s) if I'm wrong.
With the (huge!) benefit of hindsight, it now appears as if the prosecutors made a mistake in arresting DSK so quickly. But one sympathizes with their dilemma; DSK was in a plane and due to take off. It seems unlikely that France would have extradited him had the NY prosecutors requested that.
Lying to the police, being recorded taling up the financial windfall of an accusation... I get there are some people who would claim that this doesn't prove innocence... but REALLY?
The standard is beyond a reasonable doubt --not flipping a coin. This case will never result in a conviction, and people are grasping at straws to avoid admitting otherwise, and by extention that they jumped the gun in presuming there was a crime.
It is bad to rape a decent woman. Bad and embarassing to rape a woman criminal.
Whatever the final affect on DSK's career, I hope devoutly that the publicity-happy hot-shots in the prosecutions's shop will (a) think for a second about the presumption of innocence (b) check aroud a moment before reaching for handcuffs and (c) be made to pay substantial damages for a grotesque overreach.
It would serve them right, especially if they reflect on what happened to the high-profile prosecutor exposed ironically enough for keeping the hooker busiess in Washingto lively.
"I thought there wasn't a presumption of innocence in France"
That old, braindead chestnut being trotted out again and again. And braindead recs adding up. Forgive me for groaning aloud.
Presumption of innocence is a basic tenet of criminal law in France. End of story. So your nanny or your watering hole buddies told you otherwise. What can I say. You can never be wrong when you bash the French, right? (ask Mr Cyrus Vance, Jr).
If there is a country which ignores presumption of innocence as a matter of policy, it is the good ole US of A. The infamous perp walk is not some sadistic fun to be had with every suspect, and therefore easily dismissed as equalitarian and not affecting the presumption of innocence. It is used by DAs and police to target a specific individual, as a loud and clear signal to the Grand Jury: "nab the basterd". It should be, in fact, sufficient grounds to reverse any trial.
But OK, go ahead with your enlightened teachings about French and the French law system...
Can someone knowledgeable of French electoral law say whether it would be possible for DSK to file as a candidate without personally returning to France to do so? If he feels that he is not guilty, that might be a step worth taking.
@kxbxo: If a jury finds that any part of a witness's testimony is perjured, they may disregard the entirety of the testimony. That is the law. Period. There is no evidence in this case other than one witness vs the other. Guilt must be presumed beyond a reasonable doubt. Because the accuser's testimony will be discarded, that's it. This case is over. This has nothing to do with DSK's wealth. The prosecution's investigators are the ones who discovered that the accuser was lying.
I hate to say it, but I told you so. This case is as phony as a Greek bond yielding under 16%.
To the immeasurable horror of feminists everywhere, DSK is now on his way to the French Presidency. There is nothing to stop him now. The far right has sapped the centre right of its vitality, and it is the socialists' election to lose now.
Bankers and feminists, working together for a left-wing France.
Um... that motherly smile on the wife's face says that she is mighty proud of his sexual conquest.