@hawkeye10,
Quote:Whether or not it was appropriate, this case spells the end of Vance's still-young political career.
Who cares whether this case ends Vance's political career?
His term of office doesn't end until 2013. The Manhattan D.A.'s office handles 100,000+ cases a year and, as Elliot Spitzer, the former governor of NY, pointed out, a lot of other cases, including other high profile cases will be prosecuted during those two years, and this one will fade from memory.
Why are you so interested in Manhattan politics?
It's up to the voters in the borough of Manhattan to decide who they want as D.A.in 2013, and many feel that Vance has acted admirably in both arresting DSK, on the basis of what appeared to be a "highly credible" report of a crime, and in disclosing problems with the complainant's credibility as soon as they became apparent. It seems he is doing exactly what a D.A. is supposed to do, for both victims and defendants, and he doesn't shy away from tackling tough cases. His highly regarded predecessor, Robert Morgenthau, made more than a few notorious mis-steps in his long tenure.
And Vance, in admitting DSK's accusor's credibility problems, has displayed more regard for truth and justice than is sometimes the case in the French criminal justice system. In that regard, Vance has certainly enhanced the image of the American justice process as being open and fair.
Quote:This is not just another Franco-American quarrel — Washington and Paris have wisely kept out of the Strauss-Kahn affair, which is being handled by the New York State legal system. But the media and political treatment of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the two countries does highlight profound differences in at least four areas: justice, gender relations, transparency and money.
Justice.
Probably because of their history, Americans have a different attitude toward violence than Europeans. We’ve always had trouble understanding the American infatuation with firearms, as well as the use of the death penalty.
Similarly, the public display of a defendant handcuffed — the famous “perp walk” between two policemen on the way to arraignment — which so profoundly shocked the French in the case of DSK, is a common accessory in American justice. For the French, whose procedures are based on the presumption of innocence, the U.S. legal system appears accusatory.
Similarly, the July 1 reversal, when the prosecutor himself acknowledged that the alleged victim lacks credibility, seems incredible to the French. That’s how prosecution works in the United States — it accuses, then investigates, and if the case falls apart during the investigation, the prosecutor says so, rather than going to trial.
By contrast, the infamous Outreau case involving false accusations of child abuse in France went much farther than the Strauss-Kahn affair. The prosecution did not reverse itself even when the main accuser, Myriam Badaoui, retracted her testimony. The accused were convicted, and were only exonerated on appeal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/opinion/06iht-edkauffmann06.html?ref=france
Vance has nothing to apologize for. In two years, and after about 200,000+ additional cases from this one, Manhattan voters can decide whether they want him back. It's entirely a local political matter.
