New York ( CNN ) -- Lawyers for former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said they are not worried about a pending civil suit from his accuser after a New York judge dropped criminal charges against him . `` She does n't have much , if any , chance in a civil case , '' William Taylor told CNN 's Piers Morgan Tuesday night , the same day that a New York judge dismissed sexual assault charges against Strauss-Kahn . `` The same difficulties , the same lies will come back to haunt her in a civil case . '' A grand jury indicted Strauss-Kahn in May over allegations he sexually assaulted housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo in his suite at the swanky Sofitel hotel in New York . Prosecutors requested that the charges be dropped after they began to question Diallo 's credibility . They said the Guinean woman had lied on an asylum application . She said she had been gang-raped by soldiers in her native country , but later admitted it never happened , prosecutors said . Diallo 's lawyer , Kenneth Thompson , said his client was crushed by the judge 's decision . `` Devastated , '' Thompson told guest host Don Lemon on HLN 's `` Joy Behar Show . '' `` She has told the truth about what happened in that hotel room . She ca n't understand why Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance would abandon her . She and her daughter have been crying through the night . '' Thompson said Diallo was raped like she said in her asylum application . Thompson wondered if prosecutors pushed to drop the charges because Strauss-Kahn is rich and powerful . `` Clearly , the D.A . looked at Dominique Strauss-Kahn , his status , his power , '' said Thompson . `` If Dominique Strauss-Kahn was a bus driver from the South Bronx or a construction worker from Harlem or a plumber ... Do you think that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance would care what was in Miss Diallo 's asylum application ? '' Thompson said he is glad that he filed a civil suit because he did not `` trust the process . '' Vance , in a news release Tuesday , said prosecutors had no choice but to move to drop the charges because they were `` not persuaded -- beyond a reasonable doubt -- that a crime has been committed , based on the evidence we have . '' He said Diallo 's testimony `` was fatally damaged , for several key reasons . '' Along with the asylum application , Diallo lied about the specifics of her whereabouts after the rape incident and information on tax forms , prosecutors said . A crowd of protesters gathered near the courtroom in New York Tuesday in support of Diallo , carrying handwritten signs reading `` No impunity 4 rapists in power '' and `` Nafissatou we believe you . '' Strauss-Kahn 's lawyers had maintained his innocence throughout the process . `` I think what we said from the beginning , there was an act in that room that was consensual , not forcible and I think we 're going to leave it at that , '' said Benjamin Brafman , an attorney for Strauss-Kahn . `` Unless you yourself have been accused falsely of a serious crime that you did not commit , I think it 's impossible to really understand the full measure of relief that Dominique Strauss-Kahn felt today . '' Watch Piers Morgan Tonight weeknights 9 p.m . ET . For the latest from Piers Morgan click here .
A judge approves dismissal of sexual assault charges against Strauss - Kahn . DA : Prosecutors were ` ` not persuaded ... that a crime has been committed '' Strauss 's lawyer says she has been ` ` all through the night '' about the decision . Diallo 's family has filed a civil suit against Strauss - Kahn .