Folks, you can’t make this up. After the events of today, the plots of Dick Wolf’s popular "Law And Order" series seem plausible, if not pedestrian by comparison. What many were saying (and then whispering) before being rounded up by a special unit of the politically correct police seems to have merit. Prosecutors revealed to the Judge and defense attorneys, in a hastily agreed to bond hearing, several shady details about the alleged victim, as well as overt lies in her account of the alleged sexual assault. Based on this new evidence, prosecutors agreed and the Judge released DSK on his own recognizance.
If these new details are true, the case is over. In fact, if any one of the details is true, the case is likely over. In my mind, most damning is the disclosure by the prosecution that the “alleged victim” met with a man in jail soon after the “alleged assault” and discussed – in a taped conversation – how she could profit from the case. My second favorite is that our “innocent victim” seems to have laundered approximately $100,000 of cash for convicted criminals. And no doubt more revelations (and leaks), perhaps even more salacious, will surface in the days ahead. The feeding frenzy begins.
I say the case is over because the facts developed about (and lies told by) the victim create reasonable doubt. They give jurors a “reason” to doubt her testimony at trial. “If you lied about that, why should this jury believe you are telling the truth now?” And the state’s case relies exclusively on the victim. It’s too early to call for District Attorney Vance’s head, but questions will need to be asked. What doubts did the prosecutors and police have at the time of DSK’s arrest? And if they had none, why not?
Finally, it’s too early to exonerate DSK of the charges. Who knows what tomorrow’s news will hold, but some imprimatur of the “presumption of innocence” must be maintained in every case, no matter the alleged facts, no matter the celebrity status of the accused, no matter the smarmy reputation of the accused. The accused is innocent until proven guilty and should be treated that way. Save the perp walks for post sentencing. Allow a jury to pronounce (as it did 17 times in Chicago recently) guilty before conclusions are drawn and careers are destroyed.
Assisted by David Martin