IMF chief denied bail in sex case
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Brafman said defense lawyers believe the forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter." He would not elaborate except to say that "there are significant issues that we have already found" that "make it quite likely that he will be exonerated of these charges."
Prosecutors asked the judge to hold Strauss-Kahn without bail, noting that he lives in France, is wealthy, has an international job and was arrested on a Paris-bound plane at Kennedy Airport. He had left the Sofitel hotel before police arrived, leaving his cell phone behind, and appeared hurried on surveillance recordings, authorities said.
Prosecutors said they couldn't force his return from France if he went there.
"He would be living openly and notoriously in France, just like Roman Polanski," said Chief Assistant District Attorney Daniel Alonso, referring to the film director long sought by California authorities for sentencing in a 1977 child sex case. Swiss police arrested him in 2009, but he was freed last year when Switzerland declined to extradite him to the United States.
Defense lawyers suggested bail be set at $1 million and promised that the IMF managing director would remain in New York City. Brafman said Strauss-Kahn wasn't trying to elude police Saturday: The IMF head rushed out of the hotel to get to a lunch date, then caught a flight for which he had long had a ticket, his lawyer said.
"This is not a case of someone who commits a crime, runs to the airport and jumps on the first available plane," Brafman said.
Still, Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson said the fact that Strauss-Kahn was on a plane when arrested "raises some concerns." She ordered him jailed at least until a court proceeding on Friday.
Strauss-Khan will be held in protective custody in the city's Rikers Island jail because of his high profile, said city Correction Department spokesman Stephen Morello. Unlike most prisoners, who share 50-bed barracks, Strauss-Kahn will have a single-bed cell and eat all his meals alone there. Also, when he is outside his cell, he will have a prison-guard escort.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for 31-year-old French novelist Tristane Banon said she will probably file a complaint alleging Strauss-Kahn sexually attacked her in 2002. Lawyer David Koubbi told French radio RTL that Banon hadn't pressed her claim earlier because of "pressures" but would do so now because "she knows she'll be taken seriously."
Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, a regional Socialist official in Normandy, said she had advised her daughter at the time against pursuing her claim.
A French lawmaker from a rival political party also alleged, without offering evidence, that Strauss-Kahn had victimized several maids during past stays at the Sofitel near Times Square.
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