My, my. How the mighty art fallen.
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A New York City judge denied bail to International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn today before sending him to jail until Friday, calling him a flight risk despite arguments to the contrary by his high-powered defense team.
Wearing a black jacket and a light colored shirt, Strauss-Kahn looked haggard but displayed a sense of haughtiness as he heard his short-term fate.
His attorneys had denied the seven counts against him, which included allegedly forcing a housekeeper at the Sofitel Hotel to perform oral sex, and allegedly forcing her to submit to anal sex
after allegedly taking her prisoner inside a $3,000 a night luxury suite.
All told, he has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of attempted rape, sexual abuse in the first degree, unlawful imprisonment, sexual abuse in the third degree and forcible touching. The complaint charges that he forcibly touched the housekeeper's breasts, attempted to pull off her panty hose, twice "forcibly made contact with his penis and the informant's mouth" and that "the defendant engaged in oral sexual conduct and anal sexual conduct with another person by forcible compulsion."
His defense team – Ben Brafman and William Taylor, among the best criminal defense attorney's money can buy -- had spent hours behind the scenes attempting to structure terms that would allow their client to stay out of jail while defending himself against the charges.
The office of District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. asked that Strauss-Kahn be remanded to jail, a course of action that took shape in the hours after Strauss-Kahn's arrest Saturday as the prosecutor's office wrestled with how to balance the rights of the accused with the facts of the case, and his potential to flee their jurisdiction.
"This guy has every reason to run, and the law may even help him hide from this situation," one investigator said.
He has personal, political and financial resources to evade capture, the DA's office said in open court. He is, an assistant district attorney said, an "incurable" flight risk.
The international money man was already aboard a plane scheduled to depart for Paris when police caught up with him Saturday, moments before the door to Air France Flight 23 was to be closed. He was sitting calmly, reading a magazine when Port Authority Police approached him to take him from the plane, officials said
Brafman countered in court that Strauss Kahn had a "very Important" incentive to clear his name.
He added that it was inaccurate to suggest that Strauss-Kahn rushed to the airport. Brafman said his client had been at a several hours-long lunch appointment between the time of the alleged incident and the flight from Kennedy Airport.
Brafman also argued that the evidence was inconsistent with a forced encounter, adding that his client is willing to stay with his daughter, who lives in New York City.
Strauss-Kahn, until this weekend, oversaw the International Monetary Fund, a body established to keep the global monetary system stable, with the ability to lend hundreds of billions of dollars.
He was considered a legitimate contender for the French presidency in an upcoming election, and his arrest has reportedly sparked "shock and disbelief" in France.
He is likely now to be placed in a protected unit inside the city jail at Rikers Island.