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IMF chief due in court on sexual assault charges
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New York (CNN) -- The head of the International Monetary Fund was set to answer charges Monday that he chased a housekeeping employee down the hall of his swanky New York hotel suite and tried to sexually assault her.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arraignment was delayed a day after he agreed to forensic testing requested by police, said his attorney, William Taylor.
The IMF chief's other attorney, Benjamin Brafman, vowed Sunday to vigorously defend him in court, insisting his client is innocent.
Strauss-Kahn's accuser picked the IMF chief out of a line-up Sunday at a New York police station, singling him out as the man who had sexually assaulted her, according to a law enforcement source who has direct knowledge of the investigation.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to release details to the media.
Strauss-Kahn, who has been charged with attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, willingly consented to a physical and forensic examination that had been requested by police, Taylor said. Those tests were conducted Sunday night.
Police allege Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted the 32-year-old woman Saturday at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan, then quickly headed off to a New York airport to board a Paris-bound flight.
The arrest of the 62-year-old, widely considered a leading potential candidate for the French presidency, has triggered intense political chatter across the Atlantic.
The world got its first look Sunday at Strauss-Kahn since his arrest as the handcuffed IMF chief was taken by New York Police detectives from a police station to the Manhattan Criminal Court building to await his arraignment.
A former French finance minister, national legislator and economics professor in Paris, Strauss-Kahn became the IMF's 10th managing director in November 2007. He is also chairman of the IMF executive board.
"Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case; all inquiries will be referred to his personal lawyer and to the local authorities," said Caroline Atkinson, IMF's director of external relations. "The IMF remains fully functioning and operational."
IMF bylaws state that its officials "shall be immune from legal process with respect to acts performed by them in their official capacity except when the fund waives this immunity." Strauss-Kahn's attorneys did not answer questions from CNN about whether he may claim that diplomatic immunity covers such an allegation.
Deputy New York Police Commissioner Paul Browne said Strauss-Kahn does not have diplomatic immunity in this case nor, to the commissioner's knowledge, has he claimed it. CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said it was unlikely to apply to Strauss-Kahn, regardless, because violent crimes like this one typically aren't covered under diplomatic immunity.
Strauss-Kahn's wife, French journalist Anne Sinclair, defended him in a statement Sunday sent to Agence France-Presse.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case
--Caroline Atkinson, IMF's director of external relations
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New York (CNN) -- The head of the International Monetary Fund was set to answer charges Monday that he chased a housekeeping employee down the hall of his swanky New York hotel suite and tried to sexually assault her.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arraignment was delayed a day after he agreed to forensic testing requested by police, said his attorney, William Taylor.
The IMF chief's other attorney, Benjamin Brafman, vowed Sunday to vigorously defend him in court, insisting his client is innocent.
Strauss-Kahn's accuser picked the IMF chief out of a line-up Sunday at a New York police station, singling him out as the man who had sexually assaulted her, according to a law enforcement source who has direct knowledge of the investigation.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to release details to the media.
Strauss-Kahn, who has been charged with attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, willingly consented to a physical and forensic examination that had been requested by police, Taylor said. Those tests were conducted Sunday night.
Police allege Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted the 32-year-old woman Saturday at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan, then quickly headed off to a New York airport to board a Paris-bound flight.
The arrest of the 62-year-old, widely considered a leading potential candidate for the French presidency, has triggered intense political chatter across the Atlantic.
The world got its first look Sunday at Strauss-Kahn since his arrest as the handcuffed IMF chief was taken by New York Police detectives from a police station to the Manhattan Criminal Court building to await his arraignment.
A former French finance minister, national legislator and economics professor in Paris, Strauss-Kahn became the IMF's 10th managing director in November 2007. He is also chairman of the IMF executive board.
"Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case; all inquiries will be referred to his personal lawyer and to the local authorities," said Caroline Atkinson, IMF's director of external relations. "The IMF remains fully functioning and operational."
IMF bylaws state that its officials "shall be immune from legal process with respect to acts performed by them in their official capacity except when the fund waives this immunity." Strauss-Kahn's attorneys did not answer questions from CNN about whether he may claim that diplomatic immunity covers such an allegation.
Deputy New York Police Commissioner Paul Browne said Strauss-Kahn does not have diplomatic immunity in this case nor, to the commissioner's knowledge, has he claimed it. CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said it was unlikely to apply to Strauss-Kahn, regardless, because violent crimes like this one typically aren't covered under diplomatic immunity.
Strauss-Kahn's wife, French journalist Anne Sinclair, defended him in a statement Sunday sent to Agence France-Presse.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case
--Caroline Atkinson, IMF's director of external relations
) & dat's why him run leff him cellie and other tingies...........
Writer Tristane Banon alleges Mr Strauss-Kahn assaulted her in 2002
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