Computer Records Hold Key In IMF Head's Sexual Assault Case

Hugh Pickens writes "ABA Journal reports that the chief of the International Monetary Fund may claim consent as a defense to accusations that he sexually assaulted a maid at the Sofitel Hotel in New York as defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman told the judge he believed the 'forensic evidence' was 'not consistent with forcible encounter.' Police have said the maid knocked on Strauss-Kahn's door and called out, used her master keycard to open the door, and left her work cart in the doorway, a typical safety practice in hotels. According to the police account, Strauss-Kahn emerged naked, tried to attack the maid, and then shut the hotel door when she tried to escape. The NY Times explains how the key card evidence may play out: 'If the defense for Mr. Strauss-Kahn maintains that the encounter was consensual, its version will have to accommodate the unambiguous computer record of her leaving the door propped open,' the story says."

Comments

wait wait wait...

[Speare]

We're following this tabloid crap on Slashdot just because a door has an electronic sensor on it !? Get real, for fuck's sake.

Re:wait wait wait...

[Pieroxy]

+1 on this.

What should we expect to see next? Topless photos of taken with a digital camera! See all the photos here!

Just out of curiosity, you forgot to put the link on the "here". Care to share?

Re:wait wait wait...

[erroneus]

Actually, no. The Slashdot crowd has interest in the goings on of the IMF and the players involved.

In case you hadn't noticed, in addition to news stories about gadgets and software, we also have an interest in the things that make the world go around. Among these are copyright, trade mark and patent laws and litigation, money and finance and politics in general.

If you have noticed, then I have to wonder how you failed to notice that in this case. He's the head of the IMF. He's a big-time shaker, mover and influencer in all things that make the world go around.

Re:wait wait wait...

[Speare]

He's the head of the IMF. He's a big-time shaker, mover and influencer in all things that make the world go around.

Right, so talk about all of those world-affecting issues. The guy's resignation is salient on its own, if someone wants to post a good article on his tenure and the changes this event may effect. The keycard records that play an infinitesimal role in the situation is not salient, or even interesting, but was called out as if some tech shibboleth was required to get coverage here. It's stupid pandering.

I read that story before- and I work at a hotel

[way2trivial]

anyone know what lock system it is?

I only know the specifics of three electronic lock systems...
and all three that I know? only key swiping.. not closings or how long a door was open.
they can't even tell if the door was actually opened-- they can only tell that a key was used

as in, if I flash my key and the lock goes green but I don't open the door?
it records the key use but doesn't know I didn't open it.
if the master metal override key is used is also recorded (and even triggering that event in the memory)
wouldn't require the door to be opened (although it would be noticeable)

anyone know of a lock system that does all they suggest?

Re:I read that story before- and I work at a hotel

[bill_mcgonigle]

and all three that I know

Just curious - did you work in hotels with $3K/night suites? I'd not expect them to have the same key systems as the La Quinta. Don't get me wrong, I prefer the La Quinta to the posh hotels (it's a bed for Pete's sake...) but my question is whether your experience is directly relevant.

For instance, most office buildings I've worked in with prox-card systems will sound an alarm if the door is left open for more than 30 seconds (or whatever they're programmed for) to prevent unauthorized entry.

Re:I read that story before- and I work at a hotel

[Kreigaffe]

Real estate.

If they were really concerned about security, the outer-most door wouldn't be the one with the lock -- it would simply lead to a lobby or vestibule, a non-secure but indoor and dry area, visible to security, through which employees would pass in a more orderly fashion to a secure door leading into the building proper.

People rush through because they don't want to form up in a line outside. Once they're inside, it's not so big of an issue to stand around a bit longer. They're out of the weather, away from the traffic. But security theater is so much more entertaining..

Re:I read that story before- and I work at a hotel

[Hellsbells]

I write software for card access systems.

Smaller systems can record an event when the card was swiped, when the door was opened, when the door was closed and when the lock is engaged or disengaged.
They'll also record an event if the door was opened without a successful card swipe.

Most decent electronic locks will return this kind of data.

Re:I read that story before- and I work at a hotel

[19thNervousBreakdown]

What sort of people stay at a $5000 per night suite?

Rapists?

Which was it??

[Anonymous Coward]

tried to attack the maid, and then shut the hotel door when she tried to escape

If the defense for Mr. Strauss-Kahn maintains that the encounter was consensual, its version will have to accommodate the unambiguous computer record of her leaving the door propped open,'

Above 2 statements are contradictory

Re:Which was it??

[uglyduckling]

I don't think they're contradictory, you've just spotted the obvious version of the story that would "accommodate the unambiguous computer record", and make the NY Times article a load of hot air. The maid will claim he shut the door to imprison her, he will claim they shut the door after mutually agreeing to sex. So these records prove nothing, other than that the encounter most likely started with the usual practice of the maid propping the door open to valet the room.

Re:Which was it??

[BasilBrush]

First of all, does the door system really record the times of opening and closings of the door, rather than just door unlocking.

If so, then the point is not whether either side can come up with a story NOW which can explain the record. But whether the record is consistent with the initial statement they gave to the police. Maybe both are statements are consistent with the electronic record. But maybe one of them isn't. And that would be vital evidence.

Re:Which was it??

[DavidTC]

It would explain why they both said the door was shut when it really wasn't, although you'd still think they might have noticed that.

You think someone closing the door for consensual sex might notice that, especially if she worked at the hotel and knew exactly how that worked.

OTOH, someone shoving the cleaning cart out of the way and closing the door to stop someone from fleeing might not notice that, and the person attempting to flee might not either.

Alternately, perhaps the cart didn't make it out of the way, and was still holding the door open. Perhaps the handle got caught in it.

Incidentally, I've seen maids prop open doors with their cart, but I thought they just didn't want to bring the carts into the room, but yet didn't want to leave it, unobserved, out in the hall. Plus it would be tricky to get stuff off the cart without having to unlock the door again.

I never realized they did it as a safety feature. It's doubly smart...it makes it hard to close the door, and if this hotel did it like the hotel I saw, and someone did close the door, the cart would end up outside the room, so that people could actually find the maid if she temporarily vanished in circumstances like this.

Incidentally, the idea of a maid in an expensive hotel deciding to, during cleaning, to randomly have sex with some visitor is idiotic. Maids tend to be on tight schedules. I can see some hypothetical 'come back later' scenario, but during cleaning is just stupid.

my unambiguous tush

[fche]

The "unambiguous computer records" at issue here are the supposed times and codes of door openings and times of closings. It's unambiguously useless for telling apart situation (a) the attempted rapist guest closes the door and (b) the maid interested in extracurricular activities closes the door.

Re:Huh

[RL78]

This is about reconciling their stories. Evidence of lying is a good place to start.

Funny, I heard the same thing about their cameras

[digitaldc]

I heard on the radio the other day that hotel and city surveillance cameras were going to be the key to prove his innocence or guilt since they are virtually EVERYWHERE in New York City.
The other interesting tidbit of information is that DSK said that he would be set-up in some sort of entrapment sex scandal a few weeks before he arrived in the USA.
Makes you wonder...

Reasonable Doubt

[bill_mcgonigle]

The maid will claim he shut the door to imprison her, he will claim they shut the door after mutually agreeing to sex. So these records prove nothing

Fortunately the accused in our system don't have to prove anything, just convince the jury that there's reasonable doubt. If it boils down to a he-said/she-said situation, that shouldn't be too hard. If there's further evidence of sexual entrapment, even easier.

But, no matter, he'll have been replaced at the IMF even before a pre-trial hearing, so the goal will have been met and it doesn't matter what the judicial outcome is.

Re:Other reasons

[whoda]

And the he ejaculated into her mouth and turned her around and bent her over because that's how justice rolls in France?

Intelligence evidence

[Issarlk]

I bet a few people where listening to bugs planted in that room. too bad that kind of evidence will never become public.

Re:The maid story is unbelievable

[obarthelemy]

I have a few quite celebrity-aware friends. I'm always amazed at how many celebrities (A- to D-list) I come across when I'm with them. I can conceive of a poor immigrant woman not having either knowledge nor interest about the west's current nomenklatura. I'm French and, honestly, before this, I probably wouldn't have recognized him either. His name I would, his face,not.

She's been cleaning $3000 a night rooms for 3 years. If she wanted to blackmail people, she wouldn't run off to the police, she would probably target business, sports, show-business people rather than politicians, and above all she would ask privately for money, not publicly for justice.

Re:Closing the door equates to consent

[thej1nx]

Are you being dense on purpose? The maid says that she had left the door propped open and Strauss closed it later, so the electronic records for the lock should corroborate her story. If the records show instead that the door was closed immediately after her entry, her story would not match up and will be proof that she is not being truthful. Simple enough.

Room service

[ArsenneLupin]

For example, if a male guest calls for service, the housekeeping department will send up a male attendant.

“Oftentimes, male guests will order the pay-per-view adult movies, and then call for towels, perhaps hoping that a woman will be sent to bring them up,” said Peter M. Krauss, chief sales and marketing officer for Plasticard Locktech International of Asheville, N.C., which provides card keys to hotels. “So whenever they can, the hotels will send up a male if the call comes from a male guest.”

Pssht! There are three kinds of adult movies.... And for one kind, it might be safer to send a female attendant, especially if the guest ordered extra soap...

No broader than rape.

[Anonymous Coward]

Guy has a history of sexual harassment/assault. Victim says she was assaulted and forensic evidence seems to support her account. There's no need to invent conspiracy theories here.

Just because a guy happens to be a "socialist" or French or anti-US doesn't make him *not* a rich, powerful douche who thinks he can do whatever he likes to whomever he likes. This guy violated another human being and deserves what he gets. I don't care who he is or what he thinks about our currency.

Re:The maid story is unbelievable

[TheRaven64]

I'm by no means an expert in this field, but from what I've read of the psychology of rapists, it's usually more about the power than the sex. Most men who rape men are heterosexual - they're sexually aroused by the act of forcing themselves on someone else, not by their victims.