Fallen IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn launched what promised to be a long campaign to clear his name yesterday, pleading not guilty to charges that he tried to rape a hotel maid.
Meanwhile through the windows of the courtroom came the cry from his other judges – a group of angry maids – that he was guilty. The chanting punctured the decorum of the courtroom, stealing the show from the former IMF chief and man who until his arrest on attempted rape charges had been seen as a French president in waiting.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, looked rested and better turned out in a dark suit and tie than in his first two court appearances, when the fallen VIP wore his dress shirt open and sported stubble over his haggard face. Alongside him, in a flashy light grey suit, was his lawyer Benjamin Brafman, one of America’s most successful lawyers to the stars. Behind him, in the first row of the crammed courtroom, sat his wife, multi-millionaire art heiress Anne Sinclair.
When Judge Michael Obus asked how he pleaded to seven counts of sex crimes in the alleged attempted rape of a Manhattan hotel maid, Mr Strauss-Kahn stood and in a quiet voice replied: “Not guilty.”
It was the first time he’d spoken in public since the alleged May 14 crime and it could be the last time he’s heard from for a long spell – at least until a trial that is likely months away.
Benjamin Brafman, told reporters afterwards that those two words, “not guilty,” amounted to “a very eloquent, powerful statement.”
Mr Brafman addressed journalists, telling them that there was no proof his client forced the woman into anything.
“Once the evidence is reviewed it will be clear that there was no element of forcible compulsion whatsoever. Any evidence to the contrary is simply not credible,” he said.
However, before yesterday’s hearing, Mr Brafman indicated in a letter filed in court that he was unhappy with media leaks airing the evidence, which claims to show that the French politician’s semen was found on the maid’s shirt.
In the US pre-trial process known as “discovery,” parties are obliged to answer questions about their opponent’s evidence collection. Prosecutors have told Mr Brafman that he will be given materials, but in the proper time.
In an interview broadcast on Sunday, Mr Brafman told France’s M6 television show “66 Minutes” that his client will be acquitted.
“We have a chance to win in this case because I don’t think Mr Strauss-Kahn is guilty of the charges. I believe he’s going to be exonerated,” he said.
Strauss-Kahn’s arrest and quick resignation from his post as head of the International Monetary Fund threw the global lender and economic policy powerhouse into disarray as it grapples with debt crises in the European Union.
Many in France believe that the Socialist party figure has been mistreated.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, whose wife is an American-born art heiress and famous former French television journalist, is spending vast sums on his defense. Just the bill for his home detention costs some $200,000 a month, according to prosecutors, while rental for his TriBeCa townhouse is estimated at $50,000 a month.