MANHATTAN — Attorneys for the maid who accused former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually attacking her at a Midtown hotel are asking the Manhattan DA's office to hand the case over to another prosecuting agency.
"District Attorney [Cy] Vance, we ask in earnest that your office voluntarily recuse itself from the Strauss-Kahn case and that you appoint a special prosecutor," wrote the 32-year-old Sofitel Hotel worker's attorney, Kenneth Thompson, in a scathing letter Wednesday.
The note blasted Vance's office, saying it "unfortunately, has demonstrated that it is incapable of meeting" the standards of "fair and impartial prosecution."
Specifically, Thompson took aim at what he said were "repeated and damaging leaks to the media since last week that were intended to discredit the victim's character and...undermine her charges against Strauss-Kahn."
"Such apparent leaks by members of your Office is, without question, an abrogation of the duties and responsibilities of a prosecutor and will, unfortunately, have a chilling effect on other victims of sex crimes coming forward in the future," he wrote.
Thompson also said that evidence concerning the accuser's alleged conversation with an incarcerated man about benefitting from the case was not turned over to him despite repeated requests.
The DA's office fired back against the letter Wednesday night.
"[On Wednesday night] the District Attorney’s Office received a letter from reporters, distributed via a public relations firm and purportedly from Mr. Thompson," said spokeswoman Erin Duggan.
"We strongly disagree with how the Office and the work of the Assistant District Attorneys have been characterized. Any suggestion that this Office should be recused is wholly without merit.”
Last week, Thompson blasted a disclosure by the DA that set forth their doubts about the accuser's credibility and said that Vance, who had faced a number high-profile defeats in recent weeks, was "afraid" to try the case.
Vance's office claimed that the accuser repeatedly lied about her past and cheated on her taxes, an announcement that angered critics who called into question the DA's motives.
A representative of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care spoke outside the DA's office Wednesday and said the organization is "outraged" by what they say is prosecutors' "participation in a smear campaign of a victim of sexual abuse."
They accused the DA's office of "intentionally thwarting this investigation," said Noel Leader, the group's rep.
Prosecutors met with Strauss-Kahn's attorneys Wednesday morning and have asked the DA to dismiss the charges.
Strauss-Kahn's attorney, Benjamin Brafman, told reporters the meeting was "constructive" but declined to comment further.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA's office said no decision about how to proceed was reached at the meeting. The case is due back on in court July 18.
