Strauss-Kahn case dismissal on hold

NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A New York judge ordered the dismissal of charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn Tuesday, but stayed the order.

Justice Michael J. Obus said his order was stayed until an appellate court decides whether a special counsel should be appointed, The New York Times reported.

Prosecutors in the office of Cyrus Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, told Obus they could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt because of credibility issues with the alleged victim -- a hotel housekeeper who accused then-International Monetary Fund chief Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her as she entered his suite, the Times said.

Strauss-Kahn originally was scheduled to appear before Obus in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday, the New York Post reported.

"In virtually every substantive interview with prosecutors, despite entreaties to simply be truthful, she has not been truthful, on matters great and small, many pertaining to her background and some relating to the circumstances of the incident itself," prosecutors said in their request for dismissal.

Prosecutors said the hotel maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her lied repeatedly and when confronted she threw a tantrum, the Post reported.

Experts said judges immediately approve such requests, although Obus must consider a counter-motion filed by the attorney representing maid Nafissatou Diallo for the case to be put on hold until a special prosecutor can reconsider its disposition.

"After an extensive investigation, it is clear that proof of two critical elements -- force and lack of consent -- would rest solely on the testimony of the complaining witness at trial," prosecutors wrote in asking for dismissal. "Indeed, the case rises and falls on her testimony."

However, the filing said, "because we cannot credit the complainant's testimony beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so."

"We have no confidence that the complainant would tell the truth on this issue if she were called as a witness at trial," the papers said.