Police officers Kenneth Moreno (left) and Franklin Mata, accused of raping a drunk woman, arrive at Manhattan Supreme Court for jury selection in their trial Monday.
Among the new allegations: Moreno, 43, and Mata, 27, failed to call an ambulance for the 29-year-old victim, who was severely intoxicated.
The suspended cops pleaded not guilty as they were arraigned on the new indictment - which forced a one-week trial delay so the defense can review the latest charges.
The cops responded to a 911 call to help the stumbling woman into her E. 13th St. apartment, and prosecutors have said all along that surveillance tape showed them returning two more times.
Now they say the cops returned yet again, shortly after 4 a.m., and stayed for an hour - allegedly after signing out for a meal break.
"This new evidence in no way makes the people's case weaker - but rather stronger," Assistant District Attorney Coleen Balbert told the judge.
Defense lawyers say the extra visit helps their case.
"That would suggest a guy who raped a woman would come back an hour later to see if she's okay," said Moreno's lawyer, Joseph Tacopina.
"That is an illogical conclusion."
He said that prosecutors previously said the rape happened on one of the first three visits and will be contradicting themselves if they tell the jury it happened during the fourth.
It was revealed last month that prosecutors wired the woman when she confronted Moreno outside his stationhouse several days after the attack.
She demanded to know if he had sex with her and if he wore a condom.
"Yes, yes I did," Moreno told her after repeated denials.
The woman was so drunk she remembers little, officials have said.
The cops face up to 25 years behind bars if convicted. Moreno is charged with raping the woman, while Mata allegedly helped him commit the crime and cover it up.
No comments:
Post a Comment