Global General

Timeline of events in Strauss-Kahn case

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-05-17 10:24

NEW YORK - IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was denied bail on Monday on charges he sexually assaulted a maid at a New York hotel, a scandal that appeared to wreck his hopes of running for president of France.

Here is a timeline of events:

FRIDAY AFTERNOON - Strauss-Kahn checked into a $3,000-a-night suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan, for which he paid a discounted rate of $800, a law enforcement source said.

The suite has a foyer, a conference room, a living room and a bedroom. The 30-story hotel has an Art Deco restaurant and bar called Gaby, which the hotel website (www.sofitel.com) says features "French flair in a glamorous setting."

The hotel is near Times Square, Broadway theaters, Fifth Avenue shopping and Central Park.

SATURDAY ABOUT NOON EDT (1600 GMT) - A 32-year-old maid entered Strauss-Kahn's suite, room 2806, which she apparently thought was unoccupied.

Following routine procedure, the maid announced herself when she entered the suite, and left the front door to the suite unlocked and ajar, the law enforcement source said. She entered the living room and did not see anyone. Then she opened the door to the bedroom, where she saw Strauss-Kahn naked. She apologized and said she would come back later, and started to leave the room.

Strauss-Kahn allegedly ran after the woman and, according to the criminal complaint filed by prosecutors, shut the door of his hotel room, preventing her from leaving. He grabbed the victim's chest without consent, attempted to remove her pantyhose, and forcibly grabbed her vaginal area. His penis made contact with the victim's mouth twice through the use of force, prosecutors said.

The woman fled and reported the incident to her supervisor, who called police. Strauss-Kahn left the hotel, leaving behind his mobile phone.

An ambulance was called to the hotel and the woman was taken to a hospital where she was treated and released.

SATURDAY, 12:28 pm - Strauss-Kahn checked out of the Sofitel hotel, the law enforcement source said.

SATURDAY, sometime after noon - Strauss-Kahn had lunch with someone near the Sofitel hotel, his defense lawyer Ben Brafman told Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday.

SATURDAY, about 3:30 pm - Strauss-Kahn called the hotel to ask about his missing mobile phone.

Police were still at the hotel and asked the staff member speaking to Strauss-Kahn to tell him an urgent effort would be made to return the phone. Strauss-Kahn told the hotel staff member to bring the phone to him at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

SATURDAY, 4:00 pm - Strauss-Kahn boarded Air France flight 23 for Paris at New York's JFK airport and was seated in the first class section. He had been due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Europe on Sunday and attend meetings on the region's debt crisis on Monday.

SATURDAY, 4:40 pm - Police from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages the bridges, tunnels and airports in the area, boarded the flight minutes before it was due to depart and detained Strauss-Kahn. He was not handcuffed.

The Port Authority police turned him over to New York Police Department detectives from the Midtown South Precinct, which covers the area of Manhattan where the Sofitel hotel is located. They handcuffed him.

Strauss-Kahn made no statements and requested a lawyer. He was taken to the NYPD's Special Victims Unit in the Harlem neighborhood, where he was kept in a room reserved for questioning. He made no statements and declined food. The Special Victims Unit investigates sex crimes.

SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING, TIME UNKNOWN - The consul-general of France met with Strauss-Kahn under the regular rules of consular protection for all French citizens detained abroad, said Marie-Laure Charrier, a spokeswoman for the French consulate in New York.

SUNDAY, 1:15 a.m. - Brafman told Reuters in an email that the IMF chief would plead not guilty.

Brafman is a high-profile criminal lawyer who was part of Michael Jackson's legal team that successfully defended the pop singer against child molestation charges in 2005. Brafman also won an acquittal on weapons and bribery charges for rap mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

SUNDAY, 2:15 a.m. - Strauss-Kahn was arrested and charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. Strauss-Kahn spent the night at the Special Victims Unit, which is on the second floor of a red brick and concrete building, sleeping fitfully in a chair with his feet propped up in another chair.

SUNDAY MORNING, TIME UNKNOWN - Strauss-Kahn ate a breakfast of home fries, scrambled eggs and toast brought in from an outside diner, the law enforcement source said.

SUNDAY, 11:00 a.m. - Strauss-Kahn's wife, French television personality Anne Sinclair, said in a statement: "I do not believe for a single second the accusations leveled against my husband ... I do not doubt his innocence will be established."

SUNDAY, 1:00 pm - Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, Brafman and William Taylor, arrive and spend half an hour with their client. Brafman again said Strauss-Kahn will plead not guilty.

SUNDAY, 2:00 pm - Sofitel New York manager Jorge Tito said in a statement sent by property owner Accor in Paris that the maid who made the allegations had worked for the hotel for three years and was "completely satisfactory in terms of her work and behavior."

SUNDAY, 3:30 pm - Brafman and Taylor arrived and spent 45 minutes with Strauss-Kahn.

SUNDAY, 3:50 pm - The maid arrived at the Special Victims Unit in a van, shielded from photographers by a white sheet held by police. She spent 40 minutes there. She identified Strauss-Kahn in a lineup, an NYPD spokesman said. "It was a standard lineup -- six people," he said.

SUNDAY, TIME UNKNOWN - Strauss-Kahn ate a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard and drank a bottle of water, the law enforcement source said.

SUNDAY, 10:30 pm - Strauss-Kahn's lawyers told reporters on the steps of Manhattan Criminal Court that his court appearance has been postponed so he could undergo a "scientific and forensic" examination that had been requested by investigators. Taylor says Strauss-Kahn is "tired but fine."

SUNDAY, 11:00 pm - A handcuffed Strauss-Kahn, wearing black pants, a blue dress shirt and a black overcoat, was escorted from the Special Victims Unit by detectives. He was taken to ?Kings County Hospital in the New York City borough of Brooklyn where he was examined by forensic technicians who specialize in investigating sexual assault cases.

SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY MORNING - Strauss-Kahn was taken to the Manhattan Criminal Court building detention center, best known as "The Tombs," where he spent the night.

MONDAY, 10:50 a.m. - Strauss-Kahn entered Manhattan Criminal Court for his hearing. Before his appearance, other defendants appeared before the judge in the media-packed courtroom on charges including drug possession, criminal trespassing and delinquency.

Strauss-Kahn appeared to be dressed in the same clothes he was wearing on Sunday and looks tired and grim.

MONDAY NOON - Strauss-Kahn was denied bail. He was due to reappear in court on May 20.

MONDAY, TIME UNKNOWN - Strauss-Kahn was transferred to Rikers Island jail and placed in protective custody in an 11-foot by 13-foot (3.35-metre by four-metre) cell, a spokesman for the City of New York Department of Correction said.