wmldswlxh's blog: "wmldswlxh"

A New York judge dropped all criminal sexual assault charges against ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday, leaving him free to return to France and rebuild a shattered career. The decision to drop the case ended three months of sordid headlines on both sides of the Atlantic about a hotel maid who accused the International Monetary Fund director of forcing her to perform oral sex. Prosecutors sought dismissal of the case after discovering contradictions in her story that undermined her credibility. Strauss-Kahn, tiffany outlet who many had seen as the next president of France, was hauled off a plane leaving New York for Paris and arrested on May 14. He resigned from the IMF four days later, his political plans in tatters. Lurid details of the case and past sexual encounters that emerged to shock and titillate the French have tarnished the former Socialist finance minister's reputation and make a political comeback difficult. Strauss-Kahn left court smiling with his wife Anne Sinclair, saying in a statement that his life had been a "nightmare" and would have nothing more to say about the case. "I look forward to returning to my country but I have a few small matters to take care of first. I will discuss this at greater length (later)," he told reporters later. New York State Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus initially stayed his dismissal of the case for an emergency appeal. But within two hours an appeals court rejected the last-ditch effort to push the case forward under a special prosecutor. That appeals decision appeared to leave Strauss-Kahn free to return to France. Prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Monday outlined how they lost faith in the accuser, hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, a 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea who alleged Strauss-Kahn attacked her in his luxury hotel suite when she entered to clean it. He vehemently denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching. While her account of the assault remained steadfast, Diallo told a series of lies about her past and about what happened immediately after the incident in the $3,000-a-night suite in New York's Sofitel hotel, prosecutors said. While evidence of semen was found on her uniform, in the hotel room and on his boxer shorts, prosecutors said they were unable to prove lack of consent, leaving the case hinging on the believability of the accuser. But with her testimony changing again and again and as more and more lies about her past emerged, prosecutors concluded in a 25-page filing, "If we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so." "These past two and a half months have been a nightmare for me and my family," Strauss-Kahn said in his statement. "I want to thank all the friends in France and in the United States who have believed in my innocence." The case pitted supporters of Strauss-Kahn who said he was the victim of an overzealous U.S. criminal justice system versus backers of Diallo who complained it was an example of sexual assault victims being denied justice. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers called Vance's decision to drop the case "courageous" and said there had been a "collective rush to judgment" by U.S. law enforcement and the media. "You can engage in inappropriate behaviour perhaps, but that is much different than a crime. And this case was treated as a crime when it was not," Strauss-Kahn lawyer Benjamin Brafman said outside the courthouse. Brafman told Reuters later that his client planned to take care of personal matters in New York and Washington but was otherwise free to go back to France. "He's not leaving immediately, as far as I know," he said, adding that Strauss-Kahn was to have his passport returned on Tuesday but that was delayed because offices were closed for checks after they were shaken by an earthquake in Virginia. Diallo's lawyer Kenneth Thompson told reporters prosecutors would have pushed ahead with the case if the defendant had been a bus driver or a construction worker and not a famous person. "District Attorney Vance has abandoned an innocent woman ... in a rape case and by doing so he has also abandoned other women who will be raped in the future," Thompson said.