Prosecutors 'invited' new bail proposal: Strauss-Kahn lawyer

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund chief locked up at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex on charges of sexual assault and attempted rape, may still be able to arrange bail while awaiting trial.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, is accused of attacking a housekeeper at a midtown Manhattan hotel and forcing her to perform sex acts. His lawyer denies the charges. Strauss-Kahn was arrested May 14 and on May 16 ordered held without bail by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson after prosecutors said he was a flight risk. Strauss-Kahn, who was placed on a suicide watch in jail according to person familiar with the situation, is scheduled to return to court on May 20.

At the bail hearing, Benjamin Brafman, Strauss-Kahn’s lawyer, told the judge that the district attorney “invited me to come back to them with some sort of package we think they would be willing to consider.”

Assistant District Attorney John “Artie” McConnell told the judge that Strauss-Kahn, who was taken into custody on an Air France plane minutes before takeoff at John F Kennedy International Airport, had every incentive to flee. If convicted of the most serious charges against him, he could be sentenced to as long as 25 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Brafman said his client was prepared to post $1 million bail.