Strauss-Kahn sex-assault case collapses

The Dominique Strauss-Kahn sex-assault case collapsed and prosecutors will ask a New York court to free him with no bail Friday, law-enforcement officials said.
The sudden turn of events comes after investigators uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who accused the former International Monetary Fund leader of raping her, the officials told The New York Times and other publications.
As a result, Strauss-Kahn may be freed on his own recognizance Friday after attorneys for both sides ask state Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus to ease the extraordinary bail conditions he initially imposed.
Strauss-Kahn has been under 24-hour home confinement in New York, while wearing an ankle monitor and providing a security team and an armed guard at the entrance and exit of his building. The conditions cost $250,000 a month.
Under the new conditions, Strauss-Kahn is expected to be allowed to travel freely in the United States but not abroad, The Washington Post reported.
Releasing Strauss-Kahn would likely mean the serious charges against him will be dropped, the Times said.
The district attorney's office may try to require Strauss-Kahn to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, but his lawyers are likely to contest such a move, both newspapers said.
A spokeswoman for Strauss-Kahn's attorney declined comment. A spokesman for the district attorney's office said it would have no comment before the court hearing.
The holes in the case do not have to do with the rape accusation itself -- forensic tests found clear evidence of a sexual encounter, the officials told the Times.
Rather, the holes have to do with the alleged victim's background, which could damage her credibility on the witness stand, the officials said. She has repeatedly lied since the initial May 14 allegation and may have links to criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering, they said.
The 32-year-old housekeeper from Guinea had a phone conversation with a man in jail within a day of her Strauss-Kahn encounter in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursuing rape charges against him, two officials told the Times. The conversation was recorded.
The man in jail, investigators learned, had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana and is among a number of people who made cash deposits totaling around $100,000 into the woman's bank account over the past two years, the officials said.
The investigators also learned she was paying hundreds of dollars a month in phone charges to five companies, the Times said.
The woman insisted she had only one phone and knew nothing about the deposits, other than that they were made by a man she said was her fiance and his friends, the Times said.
Strauss-Kahn was arrested May 14 and charged with sexual assault and attempted rape after the woman told authorities she had gone to Strauss-Kahn's Sofitel New York Hotel suite to clean it when he emerged naked from the bathroom and attacked her.
He was indicted by a grand jury May 19 and could have faced more than 25 years in prison if convicted.
He was arraigned June 6 and pleaded not guilty. The case had been scheduled to return to court July 18.