In the U. S. state of New York, the criminal sexual assault case against the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was dismissed on 23 August 2011. The New York district attorney’s office said, “At the time of the indictment, all available evidence satisfied us that the complaint was reliable, but the evidence gathered in our post-indictment investigation severely undermined [the victim's] reliability as a witness in this case, to the point where we are no longer able to credit her version of events beyond a reasonable doubt.” 

The victim, Nafissatou Diallo, who made her identity public, accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of a violent attack and sexual assault at a hotel in New York City, where the victim worked, on 14 May 2011. Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a French citizen, had been held in New York since his arrest.  At the time of the indictment, the district attorney’s office called the evidence against Mr. Strauss-Kahn “substantial”. Since the indictment, however, the district attorney’s office continually questioned Ms. Diallo’s testimony and credibility.  In the end, due to lies about her past and a disputed interpretation of a phone call Ms. Diallo made shortly after the assault, the district attorney determined that she could not longer be considered a reliable witness to the case and did not oppose the motion to dismiss the case. 

Just days before the dismissal, Ms. Diallo’s attorney, Kenneth Thompson, filed a request to disqualify the district attorney and to appoint a special prosecutor, citing that “because of the [district attorney's] actions, abuse of confidence, unfair treatment, bias and prejudice, the [district attorney] was unfit to try this case." The request was denied by the presiding judge and the appeal to that decision was also denied by the appellate court.  

Ms. Diallo is pursuing a civil suit against Mr. Strauss-Kahn.

For more information, see the official documents from the case as posted by the New York Times.

Compiled from: Strauss-Kahn Drama Ends With Short Final Scene, New York Times, Memo of Law in Support to Show Cause for Dismissal (24 August 2011).