As Dominique Strauss-Kahn prepares to appear in court Tuesday, Aug. 23, for the first time since July 1, it looks likely that this will be his last trip to the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse. In the weeks since the latest hearing over his alleged sexual assault of a chambermaid at a midtown Manhattan hotel, in which Judge Michael J. Obus freed Strauss-Kahn and vacated his bail because of questions about the accuser's credibility, more and more signs have pointed toward prosecutors' dropping charges against Strauss-Kahn. On Monday afternoon, prosecutors filed a dismissal on recommendation - papers recommending that Obus drop the charges.
The apparent decision to end the case altogether comes after weeks during which the accuser and her attorneys tried to publicly pressure the prosecutors into continuing the case. On July 25, Diallo went forward in interviews with Newsweek and ABC News and told her side of the story of the alleged attack. Two weeks later, Diallo filed a civil suit in the Bronx, asking for unspecified monetary damages for what the complaint called a "violent and sadistic attack." |