Made in Manhattan (12/12/12)


So Dominic Strauss-Khan (DSK) - former big cheese at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - has finally met his Waterloo by settling a civil suit brought by a New York chambermaid - Nafissatou Diallo - whom he was of sexually assauting back in May 2011.

DSK - who is now 63 - did not attend court in person, but the settlement is reported to be in the region of $6 million. 

Now this is an interesting case because it illustrates the great difficulty of bringing a successful complaint of sexual assault or rape under the criminal law - in any jurisdiction.

Because sexual predators make a point of attacking their victims - when there are no other witnesses present - whatever else they are, they are not stupid.

And the criminal law often places great weight on the need for independent third-party witness evidence - or corroboration as it's normally referred to in the courts.

DSK's of course did not deny that a sexual encounter took place - but his defence was that it was entirely consensual and that the low paid Manthattan chambermaid had no cause for complaint.

But the rules of evidence in civil courts are quite different - the deciding factors are the weight of the evidence and the credibility of any witnesses - primarily the accused and accuser.

So in the cold light of day DSK and his lawyers decided that his ridiculous defence would not stand up to serious scrutiny - and he settled without the case coming to trial.

Given the low success rate in criminal prosecutions for rape and sexual assault - it's suprising to me that more civil suits are not brought by the victims of such crimes.

Because were it not for the threat of a civil suit against DSK in New York - the old goat might actually have escaped Scot-free - worse still he might have become the leader of the French Socialist Party and now be sitting pretty as the President of France - in place of the present incumbent, Francois Hollande . 

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