Oct 16, 2009 6:17 am US/Eastern
Monserrate Acquitted Of Felony Assault
Queens Democrat Found Guilty Of Lesser Assault Charge
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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New York City Councilman Hiram Monserrate.
New York City Council
It's a mixed verdict for New York state Sen. Hiram Monserrate. The Queens Democrat was cleared on the most serious charge for slashing his girlfriend in a jealous rage, but the judge did find him guilty on a lesser charge.
That charge, third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, was for dragging his girlfriend from their apartment.
"There were no winners here today. Yes, today I was acquitted of any intentional act," Monserrate told reporters after the verdict was issued.
At issue was whether Monserrate's companion, 30-year-old Karla Giraldo, who needed 20 to 40 stitches to the face, was slashed by accident or intentionally.
"The senator was vindicated in the sense that there was no intentional acts that he committed that night with any intent to harm Karla Giraldo," said Joseph Tacopina, Monserrate's attorney.
The case was unusual and complicated because the alleged victim sided with the defense, saying the slashing was an accident.
The prosecution had security video from Monserrate's apartment building showing the senator dragging his bleeding and distressed companion from the building. There was also testimony from hospital workers who quoted Giraldo as saying she was attacked.
The prosecution said she later changed her story to say it was an accident, when she realized Monserrate could be arrested. Judge William Erlbaum pointed out what was said in the hospital was not under oath, that there was reasonable doubt and the felony charges were not proven. But he expressed concern the senator did not call 911.
"On the way to the hospital and on the way out, he was not as careful as he could have been. That's what recklessness is," said Tacopina.
Monserrate, a former police officer and city councilman, insists he tripped in a pitch-black room while trying to hand Giraldo a glass of water. The wound required between 20 and 40 stitches. He says it was an accident and so does she.
The Democrat from Queens would have lost his state Senate seat if he was convicted of second-degree assault.
She was called a reluctant prosecution witness who wept on the stand as she watched a video of Monserrate, who in the prosecutor's words, appears to be "dragging her away" from a neighbor's door where she had gone after the slashing.
He faced up to seven years in prison if convicted on the top count.
CBS 2's Magee Hickey contributed to this report.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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