Consensual? Is this a Joke?

Like my prior post says, I'm far more fascinated by the DSK crime scandal than Arnold's. Yeah, both are, at heart, the same old story of powerful teststerone-laden men who think they're invulnerable, until they are undone by sex - one too many attempts to lord it over seemingly defenseless objects of their lust. But DSK has all sorts of international, high-powered criminal/political/economic themes, including that perennial favorite of mine, conspiracy theories.

For anyone not in the know, DSK (the common nickname for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French Socialist Party leader and freshly-resigned head of the International Monetary Fund), is accused of having sexually assaulted an African maid in his elegant suite at the Times Square Sofitel, while he was in NYC to visit his daughter. The details are laid out here: http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/052211_dsk_maid/details-emerge-alleged-assault-by-dsk/

DSK was yanked out of his first-class seat on an Air France flight from JFK to Paris, right before it left the gate, within hours of the incident. He spent a few days in a solitary cell on Riker's Island before he was finally let out on bail. Not exactly the digs he's used to.

Anyway, initially, DSK's lawyers claimed he was innocent because he had already checked out of the hotel when the alleged assault took place. Okay, so he checked out of the hotel post-haste. But that's only because he was in a hurry to meet up with his daughter. There were witnesses who could attest to his whereabouts. Solid alibis. Um-hum.

Now his defense has changed: Any sex he had with the maid was consensual.

Why am I not buying into any of this?

The hotel keys, you know, those annoying computerized plastic cards, may hold the real answer...

"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 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. "It will also have to explain how and when she decided that sex with Mr. Strauss-Kahn was a better use of her time than changing the linens.”
IMF Chief May Claim Any Sex Was Consensual; Hotel Key Card Records Are Likely Evidence - News - ABA Journal