Is the Head of the IMF a Sex Criminal?

@spendius,

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I don't think, hawk, that you or I or Bill should use this Ophelia expression. It was invented by French feminists to try to portray an immigrant cleaning woman with the nonce to get into the US and hold down a $60k a year job plus extras as an innocent and pure virgin victim of male bestiality and who was not in an anonymous role

The American conversation does not give us a term for her that is both reasonably easy to use and not even more loaded with prejudice than is Ophelia , so in my opinion Ophelia has been the best name we have had.

alleged victim
victim
claimant
the maid
the immigrant maid

It looks to me like the French are moving on to Nafissatou Diallo though, and I can think of no good reason not to join them.

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@firefly,

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The trial should be interesting.

What trial??????

Once more how about a side bet on there never being a trial Firefly?

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@firefly,

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So, how did this suddenly turn into a consenting sexual situation

She willingly complied with his desire, I assume will be the argument. Or are you going back to the hard line feminist view that for sex to be legal it must be fully planned and agreed to in advance, both parties must want it "enthusiastically", and that no pressure can be applied to gain agreement? I have long believed that the feminist fantasy is to outlaw men saying anything on the subject of sex other than "I would like to have sex", to which women could respond either by ignoring or starting negotiations. Men wanting sex more than women, and being willing to work to get it, has always been considered a threat to women by the feminists. If they were smarter the feminists would use this male trait to manipulate men into giving up power as in " you can **** me how ever you want baby when ever your want , just so long as I control the check book". Instead the stupid feminists go around giving lectures and making laws to bash men with.

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@BillRM,

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What trial??????

DSK entered a not guilty plea this morning. The defense asked that the prosecution turn over all forensic evidence they have. That means they are moving toward trial.

You'll be happy to know that the maid now has only one law firm representing her.

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Maid in Strauss-Kahn case pares down legal team
6/6/2011

NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) The maid who has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault and attempted rape has pared down her legal team to a New York boutique accustomed to controversy.

After Strauss-Kahn's arraignment on Monday, attorney Kenneth Thompson said personal-injury attorney Jeffrey Shapiro, who handled the initial crush of media attention focused on the 32-year-old woman, is no longer with the team. Neither is prominent civil rights attorney Norman Siegel. Shapiro did not return messages seeking confirmation. Siegel confirmed that he is no longer representing the woman.

What remains is Thompson Wigdor, a two-partner firm that focuses on employment discrimination and criminal cases. Thompson himself is perhaps best known as the federal prosecutor who brought the criminal case against New York police officers for brutalizing Haitian-immigrant Abner Louima in 1997. The other partner in the firm is Douglas Wigdor, a former assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, N.Y., and a former attorney at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Thompson also worked at Morgan Lewis before the two founded their own firm in 2003, along with a third partner.

"The victim decided it was in her best interest to have only my law firm represent her," Thompson said. He declined to elaborate on the other attorneys' departures.

Thompson's firm is familiar with media attention. Last year, Thompson represented Sherr-Una Booker, the girlfriend of a former top aide to then-New York Gov. David Patterson. The aide, David Johnson, pleaded guilty to harassment and acknowledged that he shoved Booker - an incident that helped derail Patterson's re-election hopes. Thompson Wigdor also is representing a group of women in a high-profile sex-discrimination case against Citibank. The lawsuit was the subject of a Forbes cover story in 2009. Last month, Wigdor won a $23.7 million arbitration award on behalf of Jeffrey Speed, former chief financial officer of Six Flags Entertainment Corp., who claimed he was fired from the company without cause.

Some of media attention has focused on the Thompson Wigdor law firm itself. On May 26, the firm was sanctioned $15,000 by U.S. District Judge William Pauley, in the Southern District of New York. Pauley fined the firm for allowing a client in an employment discrimination case to conceal that she had gotten a new job for more money. The salary increase would have been relevant in determining damages awarded the woman. Scott Gilly, former name partner with then-Thompson Wigdor & Gilly, represented the client. Thompson said that Gilly and an associate on the case have since left the firm.

"They resigned in connection with the sanction," Thompson said. Attorney Guy Cohen, who represented the defendant, declined to comment. Gilly could not be reached for comment.

The law firm was again in spotlight last month. A New York appeals court ruled that Wigdor could not be sued by a rival firm in a case involving topless photographs. Wigdor represented a woman who claimed that her boss harassed her with topless photos of his wife. Wigdor had compact discs of the photos, and according to a May 24 decision, he told opposing counsel that he would return the photos in exchange for $2.5 million for his client. The boss' wife then sued the law firm and its client for improperly using the pictures as leverage for a lawsuit. The recent decision held that attorney-client privilege shielded Wigdor from the wife's case.

Most of Thompson Wigdor's cases are civil actions, said Thompson. His current role, he said, is to defend the maid against allegations by Strauss-Kahn's lawyers that she consented to having sex in the hotel room and to help prosecutors.

"My job right now is to make sure that this smear campaign is responded to effectively and to work with the district attorney's office to make sure that it has all the information to win the conviction against Dominique Strauss-Kahn," he said.
http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/New_York/News/2011/06_-_June/Maid_in_Strauss-Kahn_case_pares_down_legal_team/

You might also be interested in this fact about Mr. Thompson

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He also obtained an acquittal at trial of a video store manager who was facing 135 years in prison because he was falsely accused of committing multiple rapes, sexual assaults and other sex offenses by six female employees who testified at trial.

So, he has some familarity with how to recognize false allegations.

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@firefly,

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DSK entered a not guilty plea this morning. The defense asked that the prosecution turn over all forensic evidence they have. That means they are moving toward trial

In a year or so maybe however once more there going to be a rich maid and no trial in my opinion.

As there is no way they can get $$$$$ out of DSK with a US civil judgment so if she wish for the good life it will be a pre-trial settlement.

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@firefly,

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So, he has some familarity with how to recognize false allegations.

Which means nothing under the theory that we have an adversarial system where the lawyers only job is to fight for their side. Him not thinking that Nafissatou was actually assaulted need have no bearing on him taking the case and claiming that she was. Money from two civil suits of which he assume will take a 1/3 cut plus expenses is plenty of motivation to take on a lying client.

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@hawkeye10,

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She willingly complied with his desire, I assume will be the argument.

In the midst of her workday? With a stranger? She took one look at him, in his naked glory, and was suddenly overcome with desire?

Even if they claim he propositioned her for money, that still won't explain forensic evidence of force, or why she reported a forcible assault and appeared traumatized and upset. He's accused of a violent felony--an assault by "forcible compulsion"- -using physical force.

The defense has to come up with something that seems more credible than the notion that she suddenly wanted to have sexual contact with this stranger, while she was working.

I think they will just use their forensic experts to attack all evidence of "forcible compulsion" and they will try to discredit her testimony any way they can.

This case has nothing to do with feminism. It has to do with NYS sexual assault laws. He's not accused of using a little "pressure", he's accused of a violent felony.

And Kenneth Thompson sounds like an excellent attorney to help protect the maid from the smear campaign everyone expects DSK's legal team to launch in the media.

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@hawkeye10,

You don't really know who is lying here, or even what are the motives of the various attorneys, both for the defense and the alleged victim. All of the individuals involved are acting in their self-interest as is their right under our legal system.

All the rest is biased speculation.

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there certainly should be atrial, even if her allegations are found to be unbelievable

as i see it, DSK is guilty of being a politician, a banker, french and having a girls name (the first two should be executable offences)

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@georgeob1,

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All the rest is biased speculation.

Well, that and disgust with how our system operates, and disagreements about values, and the problems encountered in relations between the classes, and the problems encountered in relations between the classes, the maybe the ability of power to corrupt, and the inevitable results of victim culture, and and and and.....

But you are right I am sure, nothing going on in this thread other than biased speculation, so keep moving folks, georgeob1 has determined that there is nothing to see here!

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@djjd62,

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there certainly should be atrial, even if her allegations are found to be unbelievable

If her allegations were unbelievable, he wouldn't have had to enter a not guilty plea this morning. It would not have gotten to that point.

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@firefly,

if only that were true, there are certainly cases that go to trial that never should

so let's say unfounded as the trial continues

as for the rest of my statements about DSK i stand by them, hang the creep

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@hawkeye10,

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But you are right I am sure, nothing going on in this thread other than biased speculation, so keep moving folks, georgeob1 has determined that there is nothing to see here!

georgeob1 is right. One of the two people is lying, and, until the trial, this is just meaningless speculation.

The trial will not be for months--probably at least 6 months.

No one here knows the evidence the prosecution will present at trial, or the case the defense will present. And, until then, all we are likely to hear and read are carefully planted leaks that should be regarded with a grain of salt.

It is all biased speculation at this point.

But,of course, it provides you with another platform to do your usual feminist rant, so, for that reason, you want to keep this thread going.

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@firefly,

well to be fair, it also provides me with a platform to do my usual kill all the lawyers, bankers and politicians rant

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@djjd62,

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well to be fair, it also provides me with a platform to do my usual kill all the lawyers, bankers and politicians rant

And it provides BillRM a platform to do his usual "false accusations" rant.

And, it allows Spendius to indulge his raconteur proclivities and assail the deceitfulness of women.

But, it really is just another sexual assault case in NYC that's been blown out of all proportion because of the very high profile of the defendant. Sex, power, money--the media lives for this sort of thing.

I'm just frustrated because it's a long wait until the trial, and I can't wait to see the high-powered legal gymnastics by both sides. That's about the most interesting aspect of this case for me--a potential first class legal duel at trial. Since you'd like to kill all the lawyers, you might not enjoy that aspect of this case as much as I hope to. But, I'm sure there will be some blood drawn, by both sides, on the way to a verdict, so watching them try to kill each other, might give you some entertainment.

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I stopped posting since I don't know what happened nor how the trial will work out. As I said earlier, I have a bias, but that is instinct from experience and I could be wrong.

I only look at this thread to follow the news easily - well, google is pretty good at that, so I'm sort of interested in takes, but not very - they tend to be repetitive.

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@firefly,

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But, it really is just another sexual assault case in NYC that's been blown out of all proportion because of the very high profile of the defendant. Sex, power, money--the media lives for this sort of thing.

So much for any idea that you might actually take seriously all the stuff the French are talking about, or any american concerns over the functioning of the "justice" system. as usual your mind is closed and triple locked.

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@firefly,

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georgeob1 is right. One of the two people is lying, and, until the trial, this is just meaningless speculation

Most people would at least hold out for a hearing of both sides before deciding one is a lier, but not Firefly!

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@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

Quote:
All the rest is biased speculation.
Well, that and disgust with how our system operates, and disagreements about values, and the problems encountered in relations between the classes, and the problems encountered in relations between the classes, the maybe the ability of power to corrupt, and the inevitable results of victim culture, and and and and.....

But you are right I am sure, nothing going on in this thread other than biased speculation, so keep moving folks, georgeob1 has determined that there is nothing to see here!

I didn't say that. Instead I pointed out that some of the things you "are seeing" are merely speculations based on your prejudices.

It is interesting that you suggest above that our "victim culture" inevitably affects the results of legal proceedings, while power only corrupts "maybe". There are significant a priori value judgments in these statements. Sometimes right: sometimes wrong.

It is true that DSK has a lot to lose (or already lost) here. However, that is the fate of all persons in high office in such cases. Would you have it otherwise? i.e. a different, and more protective of the accused, system of justice for prominent persons accused of crimes?

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@firefly,

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If her allegations were unbelievable, he wouldn't have had to enter a not guilty plea this morning. It would not have gotten to that point.

Why? Do you think for one second we do not have charges and trials even for the politics benefit of a DA and others in the criminal justice system that have little likelihood of being proven at trial?

From the news and the opinion of legal experts the charges now being level against John Edwards had little to no chance of resulting in a guilty verdict.

They are being file for reasons other then how likely they can prove he is guilty of a crime such as to send a message.

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Is the Head of the IMF a Sex Criminal?

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