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Charges dropped in Dominique Strauss-Kahn case

August 24, 2011

New York (CNN) — A New York judge dismissed sexual assault charges against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the prosecutor’s request Tuesday.

A grand jury indicted Strauss-Kahn in May over allegations he sexually assaulted hotel housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo in his New York hotel suite.

But in July, prosecutors began to back off the case, asking Judge Michael Obus to release Strauss-Kahn from house arrest after information surfaced that they said called Diallo’s credibility into question.

On Monday, prosecutors asked Obus to dismiss the charges entirely, while Diallo’s attorney filed a motion asking that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance be disqualified from the case and that a special prosecutor be appointed.

Obus rejected the request from Diallo’s attorneys and then, at a hearing Tuesday morning, approved the request to dismiss charges.

He had stayed implementation of the order to give Diallo’s attorneys time to appeal his decision on the special prosecutor. The New York Supreme Court rejected the appeal Tuesday afternoon, according to court attorney Lauren Holmes.

Diallo’s attorney, Kenneth Thompson, decried the decision.

“District Attorney Vance has abandoned an innocent woman and has denied an innocent woman a chance to get justice in a rape case,” he said.

Vance, in a news release Tuesday, said prosecutors had no choice because they were “not persuaded — beyond a reasonable doubt — that a crime has been committed, based on the evidence we have.”

Article: CNN

Appeal Court Rules Tot Mom Must Serve Probation

On Tuesday, Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal denied Casey Anthony’s challenge to an order requiring her to begin a year of probation this week.

Judge Bevin Perry had ordered earlier this month that Anthony must report to the Florida Department of Corrections by this Friday to serve her one-year probation sentence for a January 2010 conviction on check fraud charges.

Defense attorney Jose Baez told Fox News that Anthony is back in Florida and will comply with whatever the courts order. It was unclear Wednesday if her attorneys were considering appealing to the Florida Supreme Court.

In its ruling, the appellate court stated that the oral pronouncement of Judge Stan Strickland at Anthony’s sentencing hearing that he intended for her to serve probation after her release from jail takes precedence over any written order. The court also said the Department of Corrections did not have the authority to “countermand” the sentencing order by initiating Anthony’s probation while in jail as it did.

The defense had argued in its appeal filing that the DOC considered Anthony’s probation complete in January 2011 when she was still in custody awaiting her trial for her 2-year-old daughter Caylee’s murder. The state attorney general’s office countered that serving probation while incarcerated was pointless.

The court of appeal also rejected the defense claim that making Anthony serve probation now would be considered double jeopardy because the DOC supervised her for a year in jail.

Dismissing the DOC’s actions as an “administrative error,” the ruling stated that “the petitioner has not legally commenced her probationary sentence.” Therefore, serving probation now would not be considered a second sentence for the original crime.

According to the ruling, Anthony and her attorneys knew that her probation was not meant to begin until after her release, so they should not be allowed to take advantage of the DOC’s error to avoid punishment.

Anthony’s attorneys are expected to appear before Judge Perry again on Thursday for arguments over the prosecution’s request that she repay over $500,000 in investigative costs related to her murder case.

Article: CNN

Justice Department to brief 9/11 families on hacking probe

New York (CNN) — Families of victims of the 9/11 attacks are expected to meet with top Justice Department officials Wednesday to discuss whether any of their relatives’ phone messages were hacked by employees of News Corp.

The FBI began investigating that claim amid a widespread scandal in Britain over the use of phone hacking by employees or associates of News Corp. papers there. The Wednesday meeting with Justice officials will update the families on the progress of the investigation, retired New York firefighter Jim Riches told CNN last month.

“We hope to find out results of the investigation and find out who was tapped, and whether they will hold any anyone accountable if it happened,” said Riches, whose son died in the al Qaeda attack on New York’s World Trade Center.

Norman Siegel, an attorney representing 9/11 families’ organizations, said Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to take part in the meeting.

“We look forward to cooperating with both the FBI and the Department of Justice on this important matter,” he said.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch told British lawmakers in late July that he had seen “no evidence” that victims of the 9/11 attacks were victims of phone hacking by his employees and that he doesn’t believe it happened. The FBI has said its investigation is ongoing.

“I look forward to getting as much information as we can about this deeply disturbing matter,” said Sally Regenhard, whose son also was among the nearly 2,800 killed in the twin towers.

The scandal has led to the shuttering of the News of the World, once Britain’s biggest Sunday paper; the resignations and arrests of two top former editors; and the resignations of two top British police officials amid allegations that reporters bribed law enforcement officers.

Article: CNN

Justice Department to brief 9/11 families on hacking probe

New York (CNN) — Families of victims of the 9/11 attacks are expected to meet with top Justice Department officials Wednesday to discuss whether any of their relatives’ phone messages were hacked by employees of News Corp.

The FBI began investigating that claim amid a widespread scandal in Britain over the use of phone hacking by employees or associates of News Corp. papers there. The Wednesday meeting with Justice officials will update the families on the progress of the investigation, retired New York firefighter Jim Riches told CNN last month.

“We hope to find out results of the investigation and find out who was tapped, and whether they will hold any anyone accountable if it happened,” said Riches, whose son died in the al Qaeda attack on New York’s World Trade Center.

Norman Siegel, an attorney representing 9/11 families’ organizations, said Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to take part in the meeting.

“We look forward to cooperating with both the FBI and the Department of Justice on this important matter,” he said.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch told British lawmakers in late July that he had seen “no evidence” that victims of the 9/11 attacks were victims of phone hacking by his employees and that he doesn’t believe it happened. The FBI has said its investigation is ongoing.

“I look forward to getting as much information as we can about this deeply disturbing matter,” said Sally Regenhard, whose son also was among the nearly 2,800 killed in the twin towers.

Article: CNN

Florida sheriff’s detectives ask court to bill Casey Anthony $293,123

(CNN) — The Orange County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office spent $293,123.77 on detective work in the disappearance of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony in 2008, according to authorities, and it wants to be reimbursed.

The sheriff’s office is among three law agencies asking a county judge in Orlando to order the girl’s mother, Casey, to pay their investigative costs.

A court hearing on that request was set to take place Thursday, but it was rescheduled to September 2, court spokeswoman Karen Levey said Wednesday.

Anthony has been in seclusion since her July acquittal on murder charges in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter and her subsequent release from jail.

But in the same case, a Florida jury convicted her on four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement officers. Prosecutors cite those misdemeanor convictions as the legal basis for their request that Anthony pay for the police costs involved in her daughter’s disappearance.

Caylee Anthony’s skeletonized remains were found in December 2008 in woods less than a mile from her grandparents’ Florida home.

Article: CNN