Lawyer for woman accusing Sanford Rubenstein of rape sends letter to DA

Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Lawyer accusing Sanford Rubenstein of rape sends letter to DA
Lawyer accusing Sanford Rubenstein of rape sends letter to DASarah Wallace has more.

UPPER EAST SIDE (WABC) -- The attorney for the woman accusing prominent attorney Sanford Rubenstein of rape is turning up the heat on the Manhattan district attorney.

Kenneth Montgomery sent a letter with details of her allegations, urging prosecutors to file charges.

The DA's office is not commenting on the letter itself, saying only that this remains an active and open investigation. But Sanford Rubenstein's attorney is blasting the release of the letter, noting that the woman's story keeps changing.

Montgomery and another attorney representing the alleged victim are demanding to know why the high-profile lawyer hasn't been arrested and charged.

"The only thing I can think of is because you have someone of prestige and power as the attacker," Montgomery said. "I've never seen a sex assault where you have a cooperating complainant and not even an arrest has been made."

The alleged victim claims she was assaulted at Rubenstein's Upper East Side penthouse earlier this month after both attended a birthday bash for mutual pal the Rev. Al Sharpton. Crime scene detectives pulled out all sorts of evidence, including a mattress.

The letter claims, "the victim was awoken in a foggy state to find her attacker on top of her, sexually assaulting her, with condoms laying around her. The victim suffered bruising to each arm, which is consistent with being held down."

Her attorneys say they are worried that the DA may have cold feet in this case after the sex assault prosecution against French powerhouse Dominique Strauss-Kahn fell apart a few years ago.

"At least in the Strauss-Kahn case, the New York City police went to the airport to arrest him," Montgomery said. "Not to make an arrest in this case is shameful."

Rubenstein's attorney says what is shameful is the release of the letter to the media, and he disputes the facts in it.

"The letter from her attorneys is offensive and patently false," attorney Ben Brafman. "The reason there has not been any arrest of Mr. Rubenstein is because all of the evidence to date points to consensual sex between two consenting adults who were both active and awake throughout."

Brafman went on to say that Rubenstein's side will spare the alleged victim the indignity of releasing further details, "a courtesy denied by her counsel."

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