Computer Records Hold Key In IMF Head's Sexual Assault Case 252
Hugh Pickens writes "ABA Journal reports that the chief of the International Monetary Fund may claim consent as a defense to accusations that he sexually assaulted a maid at the Sofitel Hotel in New York as defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman told the judge he believed the 'forensic evidence' was 'not consistent with forcible encounter.' Police have said the maid knocked on Strauss-Kahn's door and called out, used her master keycard to open the door, and left her work cart in the doorway, a typical safety practice in hotels. According to the police account, Strauss-Kahn emerged naked, tried to attack the maid, and then shut the hotel door when she tried to escape. The NY Times explains how the key card evidence may play out: 'If the defense for Mr. Strauss-Kahn maintains that the encounter was consensual, its version will have to accommodate the unambiguous computer record of her leaving the door propped open,' the story says."
wait wait wait... (Score:5, Insightful)
We're following this tabloid crap on Slashdot just because a door has an electronic sensor on it !? Get real, for fuck's sake.
Much Broader Implications (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm sure it's just coincidence that on his first non-diplomatic trip to the US after denouncing the US Dollar [moneynews.com] Strauss-Kahn is found to be a perv, thrown in Riker's Island, and Geithner demands his resignation.
Ha! Another George Bush conspiracy!!! (Score:2, Troll)
Oooops!
Wrong administration...........never mind!
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And whoever paid the maid had more than enough ways to put whatever he wanted into the door record. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so much noise about "unambigous evidence" that the defense "may claim" $bullshit_explanation to weasel out of.
This case is about as believable as the one against Julian Assange.
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I'm curious as to how involved the FBI is in this investigation. The NY police would be VERY smart to tell the J. Edgars to go fuck themselves on this one. But I bet FBI showed up surprisingly fast to offer their help. Not that the FBI would ever take part in something like framing someone to discredit them. Nope, not them [wikipedia.org].
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Are you implying that the U.S. would use a bogus rape charge to discredit Julian Assa...oops, I meant Strauss-Kahn?
No broader than rape. (Score:4, Insightful)
Guy has a history of sexual harassment/assault. Victim says she was assaulted and forensic evidence seems to support her account. There's no need to invent conspiracy theories here.
Just because a guy happens to be a "socialist" or French or anti-US doesn't make him *not* a rich, powerful douche who thinks he can do whatever he likes to whomever he likes. This guy violated another human being and deserves what he gets. I don't care who he is or what he thinks about our currency.
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The issue here is that considering the Euro Debt Crisis and how much of a change in direction his resignation would herald, we're talking about half a trillion dollars worth of Greek debt that will end up being restructured... In ad
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Just a little hint: never read English newspaper about French politics, or vice versa. There's still enough animosity floating around that you can't get straight answers from one about the other. One notable exception might be the Economist.
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Q: How do you know the CIA didn't kill JFK?
A: He's dead, isn't he?
Re:wait wait wait... (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, no. The Slashdot crowd has interest in the goings on of the IMF and the players involved.
In case you hadn't noticed, in addition to news stories about gadgets and software, we also have an interest in the things that make the world go around. Among these are copyright, trade mark and patent laws and litigation, money and finance and politics in general.
If you have noticed, then I have to wonder how you failed to notice that in this case. He's the head of the IMF. He's a big-time shaker, mover and influencer in all things that make the world go around.
Re:wait wait wait... (Score:5, Insightful)
Right, so talk about all of those world-affecting issues. The guy's resignation is salient on its own, if someone wants to post a good article on his tenure and the changes this event may effect. The keycard records that play an infinitesimal role in the situation is not salient, or even interesting, but was called out as if some tech shibboleth was required to get coverage here. It's stupid pandering.
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... He's a big-time shaker, mover and influencer in all things that make the world go around.
And who did he piss off in the US Government to get rape charges against him?
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And also because the head of IMF is accused, a man who thinks that maybe we replace the old $$$ as currency for world trade.
This would make the dollar act like other currencies, like when a country has trouble, the values is lower...
I am guessing that there are some in the US who might not like this.
( Also he was the top candidate for the opposition in France to replace President Sarkozy. So expect little help from France. )
There are to many questions and the press just screams "guilty" loud without asking
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Re:wait wait wait... (Score:5, Funny)
+1 on this.
What should we expect to see next? Topless photos of taken with a digital camera! See all the photos here!
Just out of curiosity, you forgot to put the link on the "here". Care to share?
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Sorry about that. Here they are [imageshack.us].
I can recognize a goatse-like link when I see one. This one is, however, very far to deserve the credit. This image is moderately disturbing, but nothing like the real thing really.
I read that story before- and I work at a hotel (Score:5, Interesting)
anyone know what lock system it is?
I only know the specifics of three electronic lock systems...
and all three that I know? only key swiping.. not closings or how long a door was open.
they can't even tell if the door was actually opened-- they can only tell that a key was used
as in, if I flash my key and the lock goes green but I don't open the door?
it records the key use but doesn't know I didn't open it.
if the master metal override key is used is also recorded (and even triggering that event in the memory)
wouldn't require the door to be opened (although it would be noticeable)
anyone know of a lock system that does all they suggest?
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It's kind of funny, but kind of not. There's a bus stop literally right outside one of the entrances to the building. Normally what happens is a crowd of people get off the bus and one will use their card to open the door. Once the door's open the rest just rush in. Big security issue.
One day someone rushed i
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It's kind of funny, but kind of not. There's a bus stop literally right outside one of the entrances to the building. Normally what happens is a crowd of people get off the bus and one will use their card to open the door. Once the door's open the rest just rush in. Big security issue.
Why not just use turnstyles?
Re:I read that story before- and I work at a hotel (Score:5, Insightful)
Real estate.
If they were really concerned about security, the outer-most door wouldn't be the one with the lock -- it would simply lead to a lobby or vestibule, a non-secure but indoor and dry area, visible to security, through which employees would pass in a more orderly fashion to a secure door leading into the building proper.
People rush through because they don't want to form up in a line outside. Once they're inside, it's not so big of an issue to stand around a bit longer. They're out of the weather, away from the traffic. But security theater is so much more entertaining..
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The person who used their key card to open the door took the heat for the incident. I have to say it's kind of hard to unlock the door, but stop people from just walking in. Unless you have a gun and are a major @ss I guess
Very simple, actually. Instead of just having a company policy "don't let anyone in behind you" have another policy "don't follow anyone through the door" with a major telling off if you are caught, even when you have a pass yourself.
Once you do that and enforce it, anyone who follows you would have to be confronted.
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Commercial access control systems like those used in your building (i.e. Softwarehouse, Kantech, Lenel, Winpak Pro) are completely different from Hotel management systems.
You have door strkes, readers, contacts, request to exit devices on standard access control, and those are all connected to a Controler, that manages access and events and sends all history to a server system. Every person has an access card that can be activated or revoked remotely.
Hotel systems have standalone readers, with no door conta
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Hotel systems have standalone readers, with no door contacts. Without a contact, you cant tell the door status or record it.
You can monitor the latch status. And you can assume that the door is open when the latch is open.
There is no central monitoring or managing of each reader.
But the readers have a buffer that records events. When some unusual circumstance arises, management goes up with a reader and dumps a copy of the log. If nothing happens, the log is overwritten (over several days or weeks).
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A lot of systems record data such as is a door is open or shut, and how long for. Doors have to automatically shut if there is a fire also. Annoyingly one place where I worked which was a very large convention centre, if a door was left open, security would appear after a minute or so because the fire alarm would start beeping.
Re:I read that story before- and I work at a hotel (Score:4, Insightful)
and all three that I know
Just curious - did you work in hotels with $3K/night suites? I'd not expect them to have the same key systems as the La Quinta. Don't get me wrong, I prefer the La Quinta to the posh hotels (it's a bed for Pete's sake...) but my question is whether your experience is directly relevant.
For instance, most office buildings I've worked in with prox-card systems will sound an alarm if the door is left open for more than 30 seconds (or whatever they're programmed for) to prevent unauthorized entry.
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What sort of people stay at a $5000 per night suite? Do they want a video record of everyone entering and leaving the room?
Re:I read that story before- and I work at a hotel (Score:4, Funny)
What sort of people stay at a $5000 per night suite?
Rapists?
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At 5000$, Id expect someone to manually delete all footage of my presence in the hotel. :)
There is a price to privacy
Re:I read that story before- and I work at a hotel (Score:5, Interesting)
I write software for card access systems.
Smaller systems can record an event when the card was swiped, when the door was opened, when the door was closed and when the lock is engaged or disengaged.
They'll also record an event if the door was opened without a successful card swipe.
Most decent electronic locks will return this kind of data.
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Smaller systems can record
So the next logical question is if this function is at all configurable? I know plenty of things systems everywhere CAN do, but I also know a lot of functionality which is superfluous to normal operation is often disabled so the logs are easier to navigate.
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All swipe access control systems I've seen record key swiped, and door not closed x seconds after swipe events. Quite useful for finding safety breaches due to a door that has been jammed open.
Though hotel chains may be different as holding doors open is modus operandi for the maids which on any given day may make it impossible to tell apart the legitimate doors not closed, and the cleaning staff in every other room.
Which was it?? (Score:3, Insightful)
tried to attack the maid, and then shut the hotel door when she tried to escape
If the defense for Mr. Strauss-Kahn maintains that the encounter was consensual, its version will have to accommodate the unambiguous computer record of her leaving the door propped open,'
Above 2 statements are contradictory
Re:Which was it?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Which was it?? (Score:5, Interesting)
First of all, does the door system really record the times of opening and closings of the door, rather than just door unlocking.
If so, then the point is not whether either side can come up with a story NOW which can explain the record. But whether the record is consistent with the initial statement they gave to the police. Maybe both are statements are consistent with the electronic record. But maybe one of them isn't. And that would be vital evidence.
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If the consistency of the initial statement is what matters, I think he said he was dining with hist daughter at the time (at least that is what newspapers wrote that his lawyers were maintaining), so he would be screwed.
IANAL but I think most "justice" systems don't work as simply/logically as that, and the lawyers can find ways to suppress statements (and even evidence).
Reasonable Doubt (Score:5, Insightful)
The maid will claim he shut the door to imprison her, he will claim they shut the door after mutually agreeing to sex. So these records prove nothing
Fortunately the accused in our system don't have to prove anything, just convince the jury that there's reasonable doubt. If it boils down to a he-said/she-said situation, that shouldn't be too hard. If there's further evidence of sexual entrapment, even easier.
But, no matter, he'll have been replaced at the IMF even before a pre-trial hearing, so the goal will have been met and it doesn't matter what the judicial outcome is.
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Fortunately the accused in our system don't have to prove anything, just convince the jury that there's reasonable doubt. If it boils down to a he-said/she-said situation, that shouldn't be too hard. If there's further evidence of sexual entrapment, even easier.
But, no matter, he'll have been replaced at the IMF even before a pre-trial hearing, so the goal will have been met and it doesn't matter what the judicial outcome is.
Shame that the presumption of innocence does not apply to rape [blogspot.com] in practice.
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She left the door open, began cleaning the room, got assaulted, tried to escape, and only then he shut the door.
Where is it contradictory?
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It's contradictory in the part where the computer says that the door was never actually shut, and both of their stories include shutting the door at some point.
However, doesn't pretty much every hotel door have the little hinged lock on the inside that physically locks the door so it can only open a few inches? (This kind [tripadvisor.com].) If you flip that over while the door is open and then shut the door on it, the door can't shut all the way. Could that be what happened? It would explain why they both said the door was
Re:Which was it?? (Score:4, Insightful)
It would explain why they both said the door was shut when it really wasn't, although you'd still think they might have noticed that.
You think someone closing the door for consensual sex might notice that, especially if she worked at the hotel and knew exactly how that worked.
OTOH, someone shoving the cleaning cart out of the way and closing the door to stop someone from fleeing might not notice that, and the person attempting to flee might not either.
Alternately, perhaps the cart didn't make it out of the way, and was still holding the door open. Perhaps the handle got caught in it.
Incidentally, I've seen maids prop open doors with their cart, but I thought they just didn't want to bring the carts into the room, but yet didn't want to leave it, unobserved, out in the hall. Plus it would be tricky to get stuff off the cart without having to unlock the door again.
I never realized they did it as a safety feature. It's doubly smart...it makes it hard to close the door, and if this hotel did it like the hotel I saw, and someone did close the door, the cart would end up outside the room, so that people could actually find the maid if she temporarily vanished in circumstances like this.
Incidentally, the idea of a maid in an expensive hotel deciding to, during cleaning, to randomly have sex with some visitor is idiotic. Maids tend to be on tight schedules. I can see some hypothetical 'come back later' scenario, but during cleaning is just stupid.
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I just wonder how much they had to pay her, and if there was a not-so-subtle deportation threat involved too.
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my unambiguous tush (Score:3, Insightful)
The "unambiguous computer records" at issue here are the supposed times and codes of door openings and times of closings. It's unambiguously useless for telling apart situation (a) the attempted rapist guest closes the door and (b) the maid interested in extracurricular activities closes the door.
Funny, I heard the same thing about their cameras (Score:5, Interesting)
The other interesting tidbit of information is that DSK said that he would be set-up in some sort of entrapment sex scandal [businessinsider.com] a few weeks before he arrived in the USA.
Makes you wonder...
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"I'm going to be framed!" Sow the seeds of reasonable doubt before the crime.
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Maybe he looked at Julian Assange and saw what happens to those who cross the U.S.
Making statements against the dollar, taking a decisive lead over a pro-U.S. administration, being a socialist...these are the kinds of things can can lead a man into a life of sex crime. tsk...tsk
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"I'm going to be framed!" Sow the seeds of reasonable doubt before the crime.
Indeed. I'm sure he had been stalking this maid for months, noting her cleaning scheduling and practicing his bathroom hiding routine. FFS, how does something like this get modding Insightful?
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That, or "Hmm, there's a fair chance during this trip that I simply won't be able to resist raping a cleaning-lady or two. I'd better sow some seeds of reasonable doubt, just in case."
Either way... entirely possible, in theory, but still pretty far-fetched.
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Yeah, I bet the FBI is busy rounding up all that footage even as we speak. "Yes, we need ALL the copies. Having them all helps with our investigation. And if it's digital, we'll need all your hard drives too. It's all spelled out in this subpoena that was signed by a judge the day before the rape."
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According to a few reports I've heard, DSK is well known for making passes at women. Aggressively, in some cases. I doubt he pre-planned jumping the maid (I've seen maids in many hotels. Not always good.) but given his track record, he figured there might be some opportunity for playing grab-ass on this trip. So make the statement up front and deflect any subsequent complaints.
Intelligence evidence (Score:5, Insightful)
Something overheard in Rikers (Score:2)
Dammit, how did Assange manage to get TWO women, I only got one, and it's the housemaid for Pete's sake...
She lives in an apartment for AIDS positive people (Score:2)
Hopefully she used some teeth and gargled some spit down his dick.
Note to self... (Score:2)
Remove the door before attempting rape.
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Remove the door before attempting rape.
Only if you are an exhibitionist (... or want another maid or guest to join in on the fun...)
pure speculation by the defence counsel .. (Score:2)
> Under siege by thieves who regularly got their hands on old-fashioned room keys, hotels in New York began using electronic locks on their doors in 1977 .. They would leave an electronic trail, stamped with the times that a door opened, closed or was left ajar..
I know of no such system that will detecd a door "left ajar".
> Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer for Mr. Strauss-Kahn, declared that the evidence was “not consistent with forcible encounter”
Has such evidence been released if so can we see
Room service (Score:4, Funny)
For example, if a male guest calls for service, the housekeeping department will send up a male attendant.
“Oftentimes, male guests will order the pay-per-view adult movies, and then call for towels, perhaps hoping that a woman will be sent to bring them up,” said Peter M. Krauss, chief sales and marketing officer for Plasticard Locktech International of Asheville, N.C., which provides card keys to hotels. “So whenever they can, the hotels will send up a male if the call comes from a male guest.”
Pssht! There are three kinds of adult movies.... And for one kind, it might be safer to send a female attendant, especially if the guest ordered extra soap...
Closing the door equates to consent (Score:3)
It's not opening the door, it's keeping it open with the cleaning cart that matters. Unless she was a pervert who enjoys fucking with the door open, of course.
Re:Closing the door equates to consent (Score:5, Insightful)
Are you being dense on purpose? The maid says that she had left the door propped open and Strauss closed it later, so the electronic records for the lock should corroborate her story. If the records show instead that the door was closed immediately after her entry, her story would not match up and will be proof that she is not being truthful. Simple enough.
Re:Huh (Score:5, Informative)
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I love it when technological forensics like this helps to clear matters up.
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If I were the lead investigator, the first thing I would do is ask both parties to take a lie detector exam. And I *WOULD NOT* allow the FBI or any other federal agency to administer it.
This whole thing smells fishy as hell to me. First Julian Assnage, now this guy. It seems that a lot of people these days are deciding to become rapists right after they cross the U.S.
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1) Straight from TFS, "According to the police account, Strauss-Kahn emerged naked, tried to attack the maid, and then shut the hotel door when she tried to escape".
2) She did consent, and either he or she shut the door for some privacy.
In both cases, the door gets shut.
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DSK is very famous for its relationship with women. He loves sex and women love him.
Generally, the women are very satisfied. Why on earth would he run after a maid if she was not make him advances ?
In this story, only idiots could believe he is a sexual predator, the plot theory is by far the most probable.
It is not the first try to trap him on his sexual weakness, but it is the first time it is not defeated.
well according to other reports on the Intertubes, she may be HIV+ so the unabiguous computer records will be trumped by the unambigous antibody records...
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Even if she's HIV+, can you prove the HIV came from DSK? Does DSK even have HIV?
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Ahhhh, nothing like a good conspiracy theory with my morning coffee. Brightens my day. However, I prefer the more mundane, the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one. No matter what, two lives are irrevocably changed and not for the better.
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I don't know what the layout of this guys suite was, probably nothing like a regular hotel room, but I've stayed in quite a few hotels where the bathroom door is right next to the room door. I don't always take a
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Ah, but, in many cases, people will differ on what the simplest explanation is.
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Perhaps I should add the word rational.
#1
A baby is born in Hawaii 45 years ago. Today, as a US citizen, he is President of the United States
#2
45 Years ago a cabal implemented a plan to put in place a man who will bring socialism and destruction to America. They used a fake birth certificate, bribed doctors, used actors portraying parents and grand parents stating he was born in the US, while the truth is he was born in kenya, trained as a convert operative in Indonesia; they manipulated the election so he
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It is not the first try to trap him on his sexual weakness, but it is the first time it is not defeated.
"Oh no! My one weakness : sex! If only you hadn't been a woman cleaning my room when I stepped out of the shower or I might have been able to resist fucking you!"
Don't make me laugh. If she's lying, that's one thing. But I don't think that 'sexual weakness' is a valid defence in court, somehow. This all reminds me of Julian Assange - it is possible that DSK is very good at his job, and great in many other ways, but _at the same time_ a sexual predator to some extent.
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I agree with you that it doesn't make sense from a purely logical point of view, but I can totally understand why a school would block that site like it was radioactive. The school's head(s) would be thinking about what parents would say, I suppose.
Must suck to be a teacher that relied on this, though. What can you say : "I know he was a paedophile, BUT it's a great site!"?
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While the GP comes across poorly, the point is that his "sexual weakness" could be that he likes to have sex with attractive younger women. Such encounters can be dangerous for a married politician, but even more so for one visiting the United States with no diplomatic immunity only months after openly advocating for moving away from the US Dollar as the world's reserve currency. Also, don't forget his unpopular comments in last year's documentary "Inside Job".
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The reputation of DSK is his weakness, because that gives suspicion that the maid could tell the truth. You need to learn more about the guy to be convinced it is a plot or a big deformation of reality.
A plot? Much has been made of the fact that he mentioned the possibility of such a thing happening a month before this happened. What occurs to me now is this : why didn't he follow his instincts? If he thought there was some genuine possibility that he might be set up, then why try not having sex with random maids.
I'm willing to entertain the possibility that it might be a setup. But if there is reasonable evidence of sexual intercourse between the two of them, then he is either an idiot or a liar.
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Some women might well enjoy DSK. That does not mean all will. Some might like an aggressive approach. Not all will. He has had some past accusations (withdrawn).
The victim is a muslim widow from West Africa with political asylum. She reported immediately and is inconsoleable. Unless this can be disproven and she is unmasked as some sort of agent, her word is good.
If DSK is a predator, he would not wait for advances. If he is not a p
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You're a sick fuck, dude.
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Oh, he is not in his first assault offense, or so it would seem. He is known for his love of sex, yes, but also for his temperamental behavior.
That said, was it an "assault" or just an advance that was a little too harsh? Where does the law draws the line there?
Plus, the maid saying "I didn't know who he was" is also laughable. If she didn't know he was full of money, she'd never had sued in the first place.
Re:The maid story is unbelievable (Score:4, Insightful)
I have a few quite celebrity-aware friends. I'm always amazed at how many celebrities (A- to D-list) I come across when I'm with them. I can conceive of a poor immigrant woman not having either knowledge nor interest about the west's current nomenklatura. I'm French and, honestly, before this, I probably wouldn't have recognized him either. His name I would, his face,not.
She's been cleaning $3000 a night rooms for 3 years. If she wanted to blackmail people, she wouldn't run off to the police, she would probably target business, sports, show-business people rather than politicians, and above all she would ask privately for money, not publicly for justice.
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Plus, the maid saying "I didn't know who he was" is also laughable. If she didn't know he was full of money, she'd never had sued in the first place.
What do you mean sue? Sexual assault is a criminal charge.
Re:The maid story is unbelievable (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Other reasons (Score:5, Funny)
And the he ejaculated into her mouth and turned her around and bent her over because that's how justice rolls in France?
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Actually, I'm pretty sure he was the one who got fucked that day.
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Justice? That's the city of love mate!
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Maid interprets this involuntary biological reaction as an attack, and rushes down to the lobby to complain about it to her manager... who makes her feel stupid by pointing out that this is a natural reaction of a naked male.
So, she adds the other details in order to not seem stupid.
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trying to force her out of the room by locking her in?judging by his career, the guy is smarter than that.
How can you lock somebody into a hotel room? Don't these door always open from the inside even if locked, for fire security reasons?
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I bet they got her for a helluva lot cheaper than that. A not-so-subtle "You know, if would be a shame if we had to deport you and your daughter back to Guinea" thrown in probably saved them a lot of money.
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First rule of the r@pe club - you do not force oral unless you want to end up like John Bobbit.