Oct 16, 2009 1:44 pm US/Eastern
Fellow Dem Urges Monserrate To Quit NY Senate
Sen. Liz Krueger Of Manhattan Follows Similar Plea By The National Organization For Women
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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New York City Councilman Hiram Monserrate.
New York City Council
A top Senate Democrat is now calling for Sen. Hiram Monserrate to resign his seat following his conviction on a misdemeanor charge for assaulting his girlfriend.
The call by Sen. Liz Krueger of Manhattan follows a similar plea by the National Organization for Women.
NOW's New York chapter also criticized the Queens judge who acquitted the ex-cop Thursday on a felony charge that would have automatically removed him from office. NOW says it wants the Senate's Democratic leaders to find the courage to expel him.
Krueger says Monserrate, a fellow Democrat, is guilty of a disturbing crime and should resign.
Senate Democratic Conference leader Sen. John Sampson says they will review past practices and follow the law in considering what to do.
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.
(© 2009 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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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