Case Against Strauss- Kahn Collapsing
JOHN KING, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: The state of Florida drops a bombshell. They're taking new legal action -- a real shocker, trying to make Casey Anthony pay, details on that. But that's not the only breaking news. We also know why the empty chairs, why the Casey Anthony jury could not face reporters after voting not guilty on each and every serious charge in the death of her daughter, Caylee. We know because tonight two of those jurors are speaking out, talking about why they and the others made that decision and their gut feelings when they did so. Martin Savidge has all the breaking news and joins us now from Orlando. Martin, Casey Anthony possibly new legal challenges tonight, what can you tell us about them?</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good evening, John. The state of Florida tonight has filed a motion to tax Casey Anthony for what it says are special costs that -- for going after her basically in the prosecution and also the investigation. In other words, it appears what they're looking for is some sort of restitution here. Now, the state says it needs about 60 days to figure out what those costs will be. Well, if it needs that long, that would imply the numbers could be fairly significant. And this, of course, plays into the idea that some fear that with her fame, Casey Anthony may gain a lot of money. Well, the state now may be looking to claim some of that money. It's all going to be worked out we think at sentencing tomorrow. We'll wait and see how that happens -- John.</s>KING: And Martin, as we wait for that to happen, some dramatic new examples tonight; two of the jurors speaking out about why they decided to acquit Casey Anthony of killing her child. Here's what Juror Number Two told "The St. Petersburg Times." "I just swear to God, I wish we had more evidence to put her away. I truly do." Strong stuff, Marty. What else can you tell us about these jurors?</s>SAVIDGE: Well, you have Juror Number Two there. Then Juror Number Three has been speaking out to ABC and Diane Sawyer. And there are a number of interesting quotes coming from her. And we'll show them you as I read them here. She starts off by saying, "I did not say she was innocent." This is Jennifer Ford, by the way. She says, "I just said that there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be." Ok. Here's what's interesting about that particular quote. It is as any legal person will say not up to a jury to determine punishment; their job to determine innocent or guilty. So that could be a question as to did the jury really understand their role? And that could be traced back to Judge Belvin Perry. Did he in fact inform them the right way? And then let me read you number two. This is again Juror Number Three, Jennifer Ford. And she says, "Everyone wonders why we didn't speak to the media right away. It was because we were sick to our stomach to get that verdict. We were crying, and not just the women. It was emotional and we weren't ready." Ok. Well, then also speaking to Barbara Walters of ABC, Jose Baez, the lead of the defense team. And he was talking about what the future could be like for Casey Anthony. Here's what was said.</s>BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: Are you worried about her safety?</s>JOSE BAEZ, ATTORNEY FOR CASEY ANTHONY: I am. I am. And I'm afraid for her. And I don't think it's fair.</s>WALTERS: How do you see Casey's future?</s>BAEZ: I think Casey could have been anything she wanted in this world. And I think there are still plenty of things that Casey can do in life. And I think Casey can be a productive member of society.</s>SAVIDGE: Exactly what Casey does next will be determined by what happens inside the building behind us starting at 9:00 in the morning, the time of her sentencing -- John.</s>KING: Breaking news from Martin Savidge tonight. Martin, thank you. There's a lot more to talk about including what happens next for Casey and whether she'll spend more time behind bars. As Martin Savidge just said, the lawyers back in court tomorrow morning arguing about that. And I'll talk with our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark, and Dr. Drew Pinsky as well. First, though, the crumbling sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the man who still might be the next president of France. Who could forget the headlines? "Pepe Le Pew, "Le Perv" -- "Le Perv," "French Whine." A hotel maid's lurid account and of course, the suspect's dramatic capture. New York authorities rushing to the airport to arrest him, but "Keeping Them Honest", did they also rush needlessly to indict him, moving too quickly, missing red flags about his accuser's credibility? Today, lawyers for Strauss-Kahn sat down with Manhattan prosecutors. They called it a constructive meeting. The spokeswoman for the DA's office says no decisions have been made about dropping the case, a case that if you believe the sound bites sounded like a slam-dunk.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, you said the detectives concluded that the victim was a credible victim and that her story had credibility. What is that based on?</s>RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: What is that based on?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>KELLY: It's based on the experience of professional victims detectives. Now, this is a -- this is all they do. They investigate these types of crimes. Obviously, credibility of the complainant is a factor in cases of this nature and one of the things that they're trained to look for.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you say what it was about her story that made it credible?</s>KELLY: No, I can't.</s>KING: The police commissioner, Ray Kelly, there four days after Strauss-Kahn was hauled off his flight and a day before the Manhattan DA, Cyrus Vance, sought an indictment and got it. That day, prosecutors were just as confident in their accuser as Commissioner Kelly was.</s>JOHN MCCONNELL, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, NEW YORK COUNTY: The complainant in this case has offered a compelling and unwavering story about what occurred in the defendant's room.</s>KING: What Assistant DA McConnell did not say, perhaps because he did not know, were facts about the alleged victim's past and questions about her account. In a moment, former prosecutor Sunny Hostin and Jeffrey Toobin on whether they think a rush to prosecute made this case impossible to prosecute. First, though, Tom Foreman lays out the facts.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dominique Strauss- Kahn's New York arrest in mid-May was a sensation, the head of the International Monetary Fund, a potential next president of France snatched from a jet moments before takeoff, accused of attempted rape by a hotel maid. Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance put it simply.</s>CYRUS VANCE, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: These are extremely serious charges.</s>FOREMAN: The maid told police she had gone to clean Strauss- Kahn's $3,000-a-night suite and he had jumped her, naked, chasing, grabbing and molesting her. Then, they say, he went running for the airport when she escaped.</s>KELLY: The detectives investigating this case found the complainant to be credible.</s>FOREMAN: In short order, other women raised accusations of past improprieties, and under fire Strauss-Kahn resigned from the IMF. His attorneys insisted any encounter with the maid was consensual but French pundits proclaimed his political future dead. (on camera): But while all of this was happening, it now appears prosecutors here in the States were finding serious cracks in the credibility of Strauss-Kahn's accuser. (voice-over): Authorities now say the woman, who is from Guinea, deceived U.S. immigration officials so she could seek asylum, making false claims about suffering a gang rape. They say she lied to investigators about where she was immediately following the alleged hotel attack. And perhaps most troublesome, officials say she spoke by phone with a man in prison and as a source close to the investigation told CNN, assured him there is money to be made because Strauss-Kahn is rich. (on camera): Authorities still say there is strong physical evidence of a sexual encounter between Strauss-Kahn and this woman, and her attorney says none of her past deceptions mean she is lying now. Still, it could all make it harder for prosecutors to prove she is telling the truth -- John.</s>KING: Joining me now, two former federal prosecutors, senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin and Sunny Hostin of "In Session" on TruTV. Jeff, simple question off the top, did the prosecution blow it and if so what were the mistakes?</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think there is one very serious mistake. The -- the -- the arrest on May 14th was obviously the right thing to do. He was about to get on a plane. They had to stop him from getting on a plane. But they only waited four-and-a-half days until indicting him. Once he's indicted, the prosecutor is completely committed to this story. They certainly could have waited. They could have held onto Strauss-Kahn's passport, but allowed him out on bail and taken the time to investigate it. Where was he going to go? He was not going to disappear. The rush to indict was a serious mistake, and the DA's office is paying for that mistake now.</s>KING: As they pay for it, Sunny, we have the questions about the victim, the alleged victim's credibility. Yet prosecutors are saying they're not ready to drop this case. They still think they have strong enough evidence to go forward. Sunny, can't hear me. Jeff, let me come back to you. We'll get Sunny's audio fixed there. So they say essentially, sure, we have credibility issues, but they're not ready to drop the case. Can you prosecute without putting the accuser on the stand?</s>TOOBIN: Well, you certainly cannot bring a case like this without calling the accuser at all. I mean, the case could not be brought. Now, it is possible to put forth a flawed witness. A lot of the people who are witnesses to crimes are criminals themselves. They are troubled people. They have dark chapters in their past. You could go to a jury and say, "Look, she's not a perfect person, but look at the physical evidence. She was assaulted by this man." That is a perfectly plausible possibility. But it makes the case a lot harder if you have things like a lie about rape, practically the same thing as the accusation here in her past.</s>KING: And so, Sunny, come in on that point. You have prosecuted sex cases in the past, sex crime cases. How hard is it when you have her credibility at risk here to have some people say, ok, well, some of her story might not be true, but that doesn't mean a crime didn't take place?</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL ANALYST, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: Well, that is true. But when you're a prosecutor, John, it's not what really happened. It's what you can prove. I think we've seen this all with the Casey Anthony case. And so with the victim's credibility decimated in a way like this, there's just no way that this case can go forward. The victim would be the star witness, especially in a case where you have sort of this he said/she said. If they don't believe her, the case goes away. So in my view in looking at the facts of this case, in looking at the Brady material that was sent to the defense, there's just no way that you can prosecute this case.</s>KING: And how much would this factor in? And you have the questions about the victim's credibility. You also have the chief of the sex crimes unit in the prosecutor's office, Lisa Friel, reportedly taken off the case very early on. Then she resigns just a day before news of the major problems in the case surfaced. What do you make of that? Couldn't the defense use that as well?</s>HOSTIN: Well, I don't feel that the defense can use it, but certainly the circumstances are curious. Of course, the DA's office has said that her resignation has nothing to do with this case. She hasn't really made formal comment. But it is certainly odd that the chief of the unit would resign, would be taken off this case just a few days before it started unraveling. So I think that's something that we don't know enough about, but there must be something to it.</s>KING: And Jeff, late today the alleged victim's lawyer asked the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, to recuse himself because of how his office has handled the case; any way to get that to happen?</s>TOOBIN: I don't think so. I mean, this -- recusals happen when there are some sort of conflict of interests. I don't see any conflict of interests here. This is a troubled case. It is troubled because that this -- the accuser didn't tell the truth. So I think it takes a certain amount of gall for her lawyer to ask the DA to recuse himself. Maybe his client should have been more honest from the beginning. So and I just think that's a red herring. I don't think it's going to lead to anything at all.</s>KING: And Sunny, any impact beyond this case? Sex crime victims already sometimes reluctant to come forward; with all this scrutiny on the alleged victim here, do you think there'll be a domino effect, a chilling effect?</s>HOSTIN: You know there very well may be. And I think that is what so many people are concerned about, especially people like myself, who have tried these sex crimes cases because it is so very difficult for a victim to come forward. And because she has really been skewered in the press, her name is just all over the place now, her identity; I think it could have that chilling effect. But again, because she isn't credible does not mean that she was not sexually attacked. The prosecution may not be able to prove this, but it doesn't mean that it didn't happen. And so hopefully we won't see that sort of chilling effect in prosecuting these kinds of cases.</s>TOOBIN: John -- John, I had a professor in law school who said, you know, there are some people who think some crimes are so serious that not even innocence is a defense. You know, this is important stuff to look at the victim's background. I mean maybe Dominique Strauss-Kahn is innocent. So sure, I mean, it's you know -- sure, we don't want to discourage honest, real victims from coming forward.</s>HOSTIN: That's right.</s>TOOBIN: But it's important that prosecutors, police, and the defense get to investigate these stories, because some of them simply aren't true.</s>KING: Well, we'll keep our eye on all angles. Sunny Hostin, thanks to you tonight. Jeff Toobin, stick around. We're going to talk Casey Anthony shortly. In the meantime, let us know what you think. We're on Facebook or follow me on Twitter @JohnKingCNN. I will be tweeting throughout the program tonight. As mentioned, Jeff's back with Marcia Clark to talk about what comes next for Casey Anthony. Sentencing tomorrow on the lying charges, more on tonight's breaking news and Dr. Drew Pinsky on what Casey's many lies tell us about her future. Next, though, "Raw Politics"; he's threatening to stand alone against what he calls a bad budget deal, even if it leads to the government not being able to pay its bills -- my conversation with Senator Rand Paul.</s>KING: First, though, let's check in with Isha Sesay.</s>ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, 110 degrees in the shade is usually enough to tell you Phoenix is in the desert. But you have never seen the desert in Phoenix quite like this before. Incredible time-lapse photography, that and much more when 360 continues.