Post confirms VFR’s report that it was the Sex Crimes chief herself who doubted the maid and was overruled

Yesterday VFR ran an exclusive report by an inside source saying that the prosecutor who doubted the maid’s veracity and opposed indicting DSK was Sex Crimes Unit head Lisa Friel, who was subsequently pushed out of her job. Today that report is confirmed by the New York Post. The Post even backs up my source’s claim that Friel got into a shouting match on the issue with another prosecutor.

Manhattan DA’s office ignored concerns about DSK case
By BRAD HAMILTON and LAURA ITALIANO
July 3, 2011

They knew she was lying—but the bosses didn’t want to hear it.

Two top sex-crimes specialists on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case had serious doubts about his accuser’s credibility almost from the moment she reported an attack—but they were booted from the investigation because of office politics. [Emphasis added.]

Lisa Friel, then chief of the Manhattan DA’s Sex Crimes Unit, and a senior investigator with the unit were tossed off the case after an internal battle over how to proceed, and less-experienced replacements ignored their concerns in a rush to present evidence to a grand jury, said multiple sources familiar with the rift.

Friel, who plans to step down on Sept. 1, had grown concerned about discrepancies in the maid’s accounts of the alleged sex attack and got into a shouting match with prosecutor Ann Prunty, who is not part of the unit but was named to the “second chair” at the prosecutor’s table.

Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, a respected prosecutor with little sex-crime experience, was added to the team and eventually took over.

Spurred by Chief Assistant DA Dan Alonso, that team focused on digging up dirt on DSK, sources said.

“It was Dan Alonso pushing hard for the grand jury,” one insider said. “Friel was told to stand aside.”

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LA writes:

“Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, a respected prosecutor with little sex-crime experience, was added to the team and eventually took over.”

Aren’t these hyphenated names pretentious and ridiculous? Do people address her as “Ms. Illuzzi-Orban”?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 03, 2011 02:11 PM | Send