As Dominique Strauss-Kahn sits in his new luxurious house arrest abode (complete with blingy mob movie art), his lawyers are now claiming they have evidence that could "gravely undermine" the Manhattan DA's sexual assault case against the former head of the IMF. To which prosecutors basically say, are you kidding?
Strauss-Kahn is accused of trying to rape and then forcing a hotel maid to perform oral sex on him on May 14 at the Sofitel in Times Square (he also allegedly attacked her while he was naked). The 62-year-old leading French politicians, who was indicted by a grand jury and is released on $6 million bail ($1 million cash, $5 million bond), has proclaimed his innocence and says he will be exonerated. His lawyers filed a motion yesterday and referred to the various leaks to the media (DNA on the maid's shirt, his hitting on other Sofitel employees), "Our client’s right to a fair trial is being compromised by the public disclosure of prejudicial material even before these materials have been disclosed to his counsel... [W]ere we intent on improperly feeding this media frenzy, we could now release substantial information that in our view would seriously undermine the quality of this prosecution and also gravely undermine the credibility of the complainant in the case." There were no details of what this evidence was (read the letter here, PDF).
Prosecutors fired back acidly within hours of receiving the motion this morning.
"In light of your concerns about 'permanently prejudicing potential jurors,' we were troubled that you chose to inject into the public record your claim that you possess information that might negatively impact the case and "gravely" undermine the credibility of the victim," prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon wrote.
"We are aware of no such information," wrote Illuzzi-Orbon.
You can read the prosecutor's letter here (PDF).
The Times says, "[Strauss-Kahn's lawyers William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman] also appeared to be using the letter as a way to try to speed up the discovery process, in which the prosecution turns over evidence to the defense." In the meantime, Sofitel is now allowing female housekeeping employees to wear pants.
