Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will likely plead not guilty to charges of sexual assault during an arraignment in Manhattan today.

Strauss-Kahn was considered a frontrunner to challenge French President Nicholas Sarkozy before a hotel maid's allegations that Strauss-Kahn had assaulted her in a Manhattan hotel room led authorities to apprehend Strauss-Kahn at John F. Kennedy airport as he was set to depart to Paris.

Strauss-Kahn has been charged with two counts of allegedly committing a sexual act and one count each of attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, forcible touching and sexual abuse. Benjamin Brafman, Strauss-Kahn's attorney, has said he plans to plead not guilty, and at an earlier forensic hearing Brafman cast doubt on the evidence against his client.

The forensic evidence, we believe, are not consistent with forcible encounter, he said. This is a very, very defensible case.

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