No Immunity: DSK Can't Dodge a New York Civil Trial After All
Dominique Strauss-Kahn had been hoping his legal entanglements in the United States would end on Tuesday when a Bronx judge decided whether to accept his argument that diplomatic immunity protected him from a lawsuit, but the judge did no such thing. In fact, State Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon seemed to relish the chance to explain a bit of diplomatic history in his 12-page decision that went live on the Bronx County Clerk's website Tuesday, while also flatly denying Strauss-Kahn his immunity claim.
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After giving a history of the United Nations charter, the Bretton Woods system, and a primer on the concept of diplomatic immunity and its application -- and calling Strauss-Kahn's bid for immunity "his own version of a 'hail Mary' pass," McKeon got to the point: Strauss-Kahn didn't argue diplomatic immunity when he was fighting criminal sexual assault charges, so he doesn't have any right to do so in the face of the civil suit, especially since he had already left the International Monetary Fund when his accuser, former Sofitel Hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, filed it.
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Unless one side folds (i.e. Strauss-Kahn offers to settle or Diallo drops the suit), McKeon seems pretty determined to see this play out in court. Which should be exciting for those of us watching, but obviously less fun for Strauss-Kahn, who will probably have to find a new favorite New York hotel and see his reputation damaged further.
