On Thursday, police held a news conference announcing that they were charging Mr. Trabelsi with first degree sexual abuse. However, in an unusual turn of events, prosecutors contradicted that statement "at virtually the same moment," saying that no charges would be filed.

Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, told the Post that the office would not prosecute Mr. Trabelsi. (In Washington D.C., the U.S. attorney's office prosecutes both federal and local cases.) Mr. Miller said the case remains under investigation.

The Post provides a description of the alleged incident based on court documents:

The incident occurred Dec. 8. Police said the woman called Uber — a smartphone-based dispatch service that provides an alternative to traditional taxis — from outside a U Street bar. Court documents say she had three drinks at the bar and shared a marijuana cigarette with a friend.

The driver contracted by Uber picked her up, police said, and drove her home. The woman told police that the driver made overtures but that she ignored them. After getting out of the limo, she allegedly was grabbed from behind and knocked to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete driveway. She told detectives that she was then raped.

Although The Post describes Mr.  Trabelsi, who was released from custody yesterday, as "working under contract for Uber," a statement provided to Betabeat from Rachel Holt, Uber's general manager in Washington, D.C. says Uber's relationship to the driver was through a partnership with Capitol Limo that has been terminated. Ms. Holt wrote:

"Immediately upon being told that a driver for Capitol Limo, a limo company utilizing Uber technology, was suspected of committing a crime, we deactivated the partner account. He has not done a single ride through Uber since then. We have worked closely with the police and prosecutors investigating this incident, and will continue to help them in any way possible. The safety of our users is absolutely paramount, and we will continue to be vigilant that riders’ safety and security are protected."

We have requested information from Uber on their policy for vetting partnerships and drivers and will update the post when we hear back.

Uber has gotten a spate of positive press for its ongoing efforts at SXSX, which has been offering UberX rides to "thousands" of festival attendees. Local regulations don't permit Uber to launch in Austin, but just as the company did in New York City, they have giving away free rides as a way around that.

I took a service a handful of times in Austin, riding in mini vans, two Honda Fits, and one pickup truck. The New Yorker interviewed Uber drivers about the vetting process for the festival:

"Over eight or so rides, I learned that the training for Austin UberX drivers, who were recruited through a Craigslist ad, consisted of a forty-five-minute orientation following a background check, though “twenty minutes of it was just filling out forms,” one driver told me. Another driver admitted, as she nearly ran into a group of people in a crosswalk, that she had only attended “like five minutes” of the training. Most of the orientation was about how to use the Uber system and “what not to do,” according to one driver—the biggest thing not to do was accept gratuity, since it would jeopardize the legality of the enterprise."

I was told by one driver that Uber paid drivers $20/hour. A gentleman manning one of Uber's Game of Thrones pedicabs said he was paid extra because of the weight of the promotional throne added 80 pounds and "puts a lot of drag on the bike." He got the gig through his "bike agent," Movement, but declined to specify how much he was paid.

UPDATE: An Uber spokesperson said that as a technology platform, the company doesn't hire drivers directly. It only partners with black car and taxi companies that employ drivers licensed to operate for-hire-vehicles. Obviously that wasn't the case in Austin, although one of the drivers we encountered happens to run a car company. But Uber said that situation was different because Austin's strict rules prohibit e-hailing apps.

Julian Assange

Because the first thing you wondered upon waking was probably "what's up with those Swedish allegations against Julian Assange?" here you go: it looks like a condom used as evidence against the snowy-locked whistleblower didn't even contain his DNA. From The Register:

According to details that have emerged in a 100-page police report submitted after witnesses were interviewed and forensic evidence had been examined, the condom submitted for evidence by one of the key alleged sexual assault victims does not contain Assange’s DNA.

Assange’s legal team have alleged that the lack of conclusive DNA evidence suggests that fake evidence may have been submitted and is calling the entire process into question.

Mr. Assange, age 41, is holed up in the Ecuador's London Embassy after the South American state gave him asylum. If he even puts a toe outside a door frame there, a team of U.K. cops stand ready to put him on a plane to Sweden.

Questions regarding Mr. Assange's ill-fated trip to Sweden in 2010, which led to accusations he sexually molested two women, won't go away anytime soon. Multiple sources report his genetic material was found on a second condom.

Julian Assange continues to deny the claims, insisting his encounters with both women were consensual.

Mr. Adalberth via Cruchbase

The Manhattan District Attorney's office has dismissed sexual assault charges against Niklas Adalberth and Jens Saltin for allegedly sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl at the W Hotel in Midtown. Both men work as executives for the Swedish startup Klarna, which has venture capital backing from powerful American investors, including Sequoia Capital, and a valuation rumored to be near $1 billion.

No official statement was released, but in Manhattan Criminal Court today, where both defendants appeared after an adjournment earlier this month, Assistant District Attorney David Smith said the following: "After conducting  a thorough investigation that included but was not limited to interviewing relevant witnesses, viewing surveillance video and other hotel records and speaking extensively with the complainant we have concluded that we cannot prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt."

Defense attorney Andrea Zellan, whose firm Branfman & Associates also represented Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a similar sexual assault case where charges were also dismissed, emailed the following statement to Betabeat regarding the case:

"We are obviously delighted that the District Attorney of New York County has agreed to dismiss all charges against our clients. We have maintained from the outset that this case was based on a single, false and entirely baseless allegation that was not corroborated by any forensic, scientific, video or other witness testimony. Simply put, these two men with impeccable backgrounds did nothing wrong, did not violate the law and should never have been arrested in the first place.

Now that the charges have been dismissed and the records sealed, Messrs. Adalberth and Saltin plan on returning to Sweden, back to the brilliant careers they were enjoying before this unfortunate episode began."

Both. Mr. Adalberth and Mr. Saltin, who were out on $10,000 bail, had taken a leave of absence during their legal trouble. But by email Klarna offered a similar statement of vindication:

"As we have been expecting all along, the accusations brought against our employees have now been proven entirely unfounded and all charges have been dismissed. Our employees did nothing wrong, did not break any law and should thus never have ended up in this very unfortunate situation. We now leave this incident behind us and welcome back our employees to their central roles within the company."

Mr. Adalberth, a former economics student, is Klarna’s COO and one of three co-founders. Mr. Saltin, a former Goldman Sachs intern, is Klarna’s vice president of sales in the Netherlands.

Mr. Adalberth via Crunchbase

The New York County District Attorney's Office just sent out an email regarding the pending case against two executives from Klarna, a Swedish e-commerce payments startup with $166 million in venture capital financing from prominent American investors. This past Saturday, Klarna cofounder and COO Niklas Adalberth and Jens Saltin, the company's vice president of sales in the Netherlands, were arrested for allegedly molesting a 19-year-old woman from Texas at the W Hotel in Midtown.

Both men, who have taken temporarily leave at Klarna, were released on $10,000 bail. According to the DA's report, Mr. Adalberth and Mr. Saltin were called before Judge Anthony Ferrara in Manhattan Criminal Court today and appeared with their attorneys:

·       Prosecutors stated on the record that there was no grand jury action at this time and requested an adjournment.

·       DC consented and requested a short adjournment.

·        Judge adjourned (or scheduled) case for Friday, 2/24/12 in Part F for Control.

The lack of grand jury action is not unusual. Typically, the DA's office asks for more time and the defense grants it. Since both defendants are out of bail, rather than in custody, it affords the DA's office more flexibility.

In the original complaint against Mr. Adalberth and Mr. Saltin, both men were accused of one alleged count of “sexual abuse in the first degree.” The complaint also alleges that Mr. Adalberth straddled the informant, both defendants removed her clothes, and that Mr. Adalberth "grabbed [the] informant’s breast."

After its latest round of funding, a $155 million pre-IPO round from General Atlantic and Yuri Milner’s Digital Sky Technologies, Klarna's valuation was reportedly approaching $1 billion. Sequoia Partners' Michael Moritz also sits on Klarna's board.

UPDATE: During the court appearance earlier today, the New York Daily News reports that defense attorney Andrea Zellan told the judge, “Your honor, the DA’s office is working very quickly on an investigation. I believe that at the end of that investigation that the charges will be dropped.”

Ms. Zellan works for Brafman & Associates, the firm helmed by renowned criminal defense attorney Benjamin Brafman, who notably represented Dominique Strauss-Kahn during somewhat similar sexual assault allegations at the Sofitel Hotel in Midtown, which were ultimately dismissed.

According to the Daily News, Ms. Zellan maintained her clients's innocence:

“The charges against both men are based on completely false allegations,” Zellan said after court. “Neither of the men accused did anything inappropriate, and they certainly did not commit a crime.”

Betabeat has been trying to reach Ms. Zellan since Wednesday and will update you when we hear back.