Strauss-Kahn's lawyers argue for civil suit dismissal

NEW YORK - Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lawyers went back to a New York court Wednesday to seek dismissal of a civil suit brought by a hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault last year.

During the hearing, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon heard arguments from Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, who argued that Strauss-Kahn's former IMF position grants him diplomatic immunity from the civil lawsuit so that the suit should be dismissed.

Lawyers for his accuser, hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, argued that Strauss-Kahn enjoyed "limited immunity" at best, a form of protection that would not shield him from criminal or civil prosecution in a sexual assault case.

Justice Douglas McKeon will take some time to consider based on the arguments to decide whether to drop the civil suit. Neither Strauss-Kahn nor Diallo appeared in court.

The 62-year-old former IMF chief was charged last year with attempted rape and other crimes after the May 14 encounter with Diallo, but the criminal case was dropped after prosecutors lost faith in her credibility.

The civil lawsuit, filed in August, represents Diallo's final chance to hold Strauss-Kahn legally accountable for what her lawyers called a "brutal" sexual assault.