(Reuters) - A New York judge dismissed sexual assault charges against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday.
Here is a timeline of events since May:
May 13, 2011 - Strauss-Kahn checks into a $3,000 (1,818.40 pounds)-a-night suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel in Manhattan.
May 14 - A hotel maid tells New York police that Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her in his suite. She is taken to a hospital and released after treatment. He has lunch with his daughter before driving to John F. Kennedy International Airport to catch an Air France flight to Paris. Police board the flight minutes before it is due to depart and detain him.
May 15 - Strauss-Kahn, 62, is arrested and charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment His wife, French television personality Anne Sinclair, says she expects "his innocence will be established."
May 16 - Strauss-Kahn is denied bail in New York City Criminal Court, transferred to Rikers Island jail and held in protective custody.
May 18 - Strauss-Kahn resigns as head of the IMF, saying he needs to devote all his energy to fight the charges.
May 19 - A grand jury indicts Strauss-Kahn, meaning that he is formally charged after prosecutors presented evidence, before a panel that meets in secret. Defence lawyers and cross-examination are not allowed in grand jury proceedings.
May 20 - A judge grants Strauss-Kahn his release on bail and under house arrest. He stays in a Manhattan apartment under around-the-clock armed guard. The private security company charges $200,000 a month, which he is responsible for paying.
May 23 - In a letter to IMF staff, Strauss-Kahn strongly denies the charges against him and calls the events around his arrest "a personal nightmare."
June 6 - Strauss-Kahn pleads not guilty in state Supreme Court in Manhattan to charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.
June 28 - Former French finance minister Christine Lagarde is chosen to succeed him as managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
July 1 - Strauss-Kahn is freed from house arrest after prosecutors say the hotel maid lied about her past and about what she did immediately after the incident, calling her credibility into question. He remains barred from leaving the country. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance says his office will continue to investigate.
July 5 - Tristane Banon, a French journalist, files a complaint in France alleging Strauss-Kahn tried to force himself on her during an interview in a Paris apartment in 2003.
July 11 - French police interview Banon for the first time.
July 24 - The hotel maid says in an interview published on Newsweek's website that he appeared as a "crazy man" and attacked her when she entered his room. Nafissatou Diallo, 32, gives the newsmagazine and ABC News permission to identify her by name. It marks the first time she has publicly spoken to the media.
July 27 - Diallo meets with prosecutors to review tapes of her conversations with an imprisoned man in Arizona after the Strauss-Kahn incident and address concerns about her credibility, says her lawyer, Kenneth Thompson. News reports say she discussed Strauss-Kahn's wealth, an indication she may have been looking to extract money from him.
August 8 - Diallo files a civil lawsuit against Strauss-Kahn in the Bronx, where she lives. The suit alleges he sexually assaulted a housekeeper in a "violent and sadistic attack." The lawsuit, brought by Thompson, does not seek specific damages.
August 16 - Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn and Diallo spar over the contents of a medical report from her hospital examination after the incident, leaked to French magazine L'Express.
August 22 - Prosecutors ask a judge to dismiss the charges against Strauss-Kahn as they no longer have confidence that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
August 23 - A New York State Supreme Court judge dismisses the charges against Strauss-Kahn, after prosecutors lost faith in the credibility of his accuser.
(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; additional writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
