The End of the Story?

[sr71plt]

We worked over on the forum the IMF leader (Dominique Strauss-Kahn) and hotel maid (Nafissatou Diallo) she said/he said case of claimed rape pretty well over a year ago. Here's maybe the last of the story, with the maid making off better than the international official did (which some on the forum claimed would never be the case):

http://my.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20121210/b9c94df6-f8b0-4829-95c6-b35c64d5863c

 

[soflabbwlvr]

The discussion I recall--and there may have been others--was focused on the prosecutor's decision to drop criminal charges after certain facts concerning the accuser were made public. This settlement in a civil lawsuit is an entirely different matter. The most significant difference is the much higher standard of proof in a criminal proceeding: "beyond a reasonable doubt" is more difficult than "a preponderance of the evidence" by several magnitudes. That's why a criminal proceeding is not always the end of the case when there is a deep pockets defendant. For a similar result, take a look at the OJ Simpson cases and the Michael Jackson cases.

 

[sr71plt]

There were those in the original discussion who said he'd get off scot-free because the rich and famous always do. Having lost his job and his projected French presidency run and now a civil lawsuit, I don't think he's gotten off scot-free.

And the "getting off because of who he is" assertions were made before the criminal suit got watered down because this woman had tried to shake men down before on this charge and told people she was going to do it in this case too.

 

[NekoParks]

No real winners

I remember hearing that S-K had a history of forcing women to have sex with him. Probably his misdeeds finally caught up with him, or more than likely he pissed off several people in power, and they stopped helping him cover up his criminal behavior. I wonder how many serial rapists with power and money continue to go free and rape other women (and men). Still the woman's word is so easily impeached and rarely believed over a man's word--even the purported term "he said/she said" gives a false equivalency to the discussion. The entire situation is a loss for everyone—the maid, S-K, and the international financial community, since reportedly S-K is a talented banker and politician. Our own economy continues to be sluggish as long as Europe continues to stagger under tremendous financial problems that men like S-K could really help solve.