Bail and the Head of IMF

Today Doug Schneider and I went 100 Centre Street to watch closing arguments in the case of the two police officers charged with rape.  Not only was there a press field day for that case but there was a ton of press outside waiting to hear news about the arraignment of the IMF head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is currently charged with sexual assault.  In case you have not heard, he was denied bail and remanded.I was interviewed by a French newspaper who was asking why he was denied bail when he is clearly a well known figure and could be easily found if he disappeared so I decided this would be a good post topic for today. 

There are several factors which come into play when the court decides whether or not to grant bail to a defendant- the two main factors being risk of flight and dangerousness to the community.   As he is a foreign citizen with unlimited resources and charged with a crime of violence it is not surprising that bail was denied for the time being.

Additional factors which are to be considered in the court's discretion are found in New York's Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) Section 510.30 include:

1. The defendant's character and reputation
2. His employment and financial resources
3. The defendant's community ties and length of residence in the New York area
4. The weight of the evidence
5. The defendant's past criminal record, and
6. The possible sentence if convicted

The fact that Mr. Strauss-Kahn is a French citizen who was boarding a flight to a country that does not extradite its citizens to the United States for trial is certainly a factor that the court was considering when deciding to remand him.  Additionally, there have been previous allegations of sexual assault against him and he has unlimited resources- even if he was to post $5 million in bail to secure his appearance for future court dates (meaning that he puts up that money and must forfeit it if he does not appear) that likely is no incentive as $5 million to a billionaire when risking a lengthy jail sentence.

When considering these factors it is not surprising that the court remanded Mr. Strauss-Kahn who will likely find his new abode in Rikers for the foreseeable future.  Now the District Attorney's Office has one hundred and twenty hours to convene a grand jury and indict him otherwise his release is mandated by another statute, CPL 180.80. If he is indicted, the Supreme Court judge will once again arraign Mr. Strauss-Kahn and the issue of bail will likely be reviewed once again.

Stay posted for more information on this case or feel free to email me with questions at Kimberly@SummersAndSchneider.com