"Furthermore, I have read through the entire New York State law on this and saw no mention of a need to prove intent for a charge of attempted rape. Perhaps you can point to the exact clause that requires and defines intent in cases of rape or sexual assault?"
You didn't read the attempt statute.
What you have in any penal code is a set of defined offenses, which state the actions and mental state required for each offense. Some offenses require a mental state, and some do not.
Then, on top of that, for most offenses X, there are general catch-alls for attempt, accomplice liability, etc.
No, you do not find a statute for "murder" and another statute for "attempted murder". An "attempted murder" charge is when someone is trying to commit "murder" and fails in some respect, but otherwise had the intent to complete the required acts.
Generally, you might review this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempt_crime
The essence of the crime of attempt is that the defendant has failed to commit the actus reus (the Latin term for the "guilty act") of the full offense, but has the direct and specific intent to commit that full offense.
The attempt provisions in the NY code are:
S 110.00 Attempt to commit a crime.
A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime when,
with intent
to commit a crime, he engages in conduct which tends to effect the
commission of such crime.
S 110.05 Attempt to commit a crime; punishment.
An attempt to commit a crime is a:
1. Class A-I felony when the crime attempted is the A-I felony of
murder in the first degree, criminal possession of a controlled sub-
stance in the first degree or criminal sale of a controlled substance in
the first degree;
2. Class A-II felony when the crime attempted is a class A-II felony;
3. Class B felony when the crime attempted is a class A-I felony
except as provided in subdivision one hereof;
4. Class C felony when the crime attempted is a class B felony;
5. Class D felony when the crime attempted is a class C felony;
6. Class E felony when the crime attempted is a class D felony;
7. Class A misdemeanor when the crime attempted is a class E felony;
8. Class B misdemeanor when the crime attempted is a misdemeanor.
Now, notice how attempt affects the grading of the offense. If an offense is graded as an A-1 felony of certain types, then there is no difference between an attempt and the actual felony. The differences in grading shake out as you get lower down the rung.
There is no statute for "attempted rape". What there is, is a statute for rape, and a general provision for criminal attempt, cited above. The attempt definition applies to all crimes except, for example, status offenses.
If you look at the full set of charges, you'll notice that several are what are called "lesser included offenses" in the headline charges, and that the charges carrying the most serious potential penalties are the attempt charges. A "lesser included offense" is something that is an independent offense, but which is a requisite component of a more serious offense. I don't do criminal defense, and certainly not in New York, but it is not typical to have consecutive sentences for the lesser includeds when you have a conviction on the primary charges.
In a tough defense situation, where I'm charged with an attempted A-1 felony and a class A misdemeanor, then I have some choices to make. On a first offense with potential mitigating factors, I might just go ahead and plead to the Class A misdemeanor and take my chances on sentencing, and go ahead and defend against the attempt charge on lack of intent. That can clear out a lot of brush, since we don't need to get into the actions so much as deal with the intent issue on the charge that we're going to proceed on.
You are correct that the lesser charges can put DSK in prison. But if you are looking at 5 years with a potential deferment or commutation of some of that, versus spinning the wheel and going for decades.
From all indications, it looks like he has a tough defense on her testimony and the struggle evidence alone. The DNA itself is not as big a deal as some think, because a hotel guest's DNA is all over a hotel room and of course is present in shed cells on linens, towels, wastecans, etc. If you come into contact with some guy's bed linens in a hotel where he's been staying alone, the fact that you might have trace semen on your clothing doesn't, by itself, prove much of anything.
So - consider this scenario:
1. I pick up a gun, point it at you, and pull the trigger. The gun is not loaded.
I might be charged with a number of things there. The best charge you are going to get is attempted murder. You can tack on what states variously call assault or terroristic threatening etc.
The point is, if I
knew the gun wasn't loaded, I'll take the rap on the lesser charges and defend against the attempted murder charge on the ground that I did not intend to kill you.
If I
believed the gun was loaded, and was really trying to kill you, I still might plead the same way, and put you to your proof of my intent.
So, let's go back to your original question.
You asked, in a nutshell, how intent would matter. The answer, simply put, is that it matters on the attempt charges which, for some reason, you did not seem to believe. It does not "boggle the mind" that someone would go after intent, where you have a set of charges with several attempted felonies, and a set of misdemeanors attached. It's normal.