NY pol partly acquitted in attack on girlfriend

NY senator acquitted of felony assault in attack on girlfriend, won't lose seat automatically

(AP)  NEW YORK (AP) - A freshman state senator was acquitted Thursday of smashing a glass into his girlfriend's face, but was convicted of a lesser charge for dragging her bleeding from his apartment in a violent scene caught on videotape.

State Sen. Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat, would have lost his Senate seat if convicted of second-degree felony assault. He faces up to a year in prison at his sentencing Dec. 4 on a misdemeanor count of third-degree reckless assault for injuring Karla Giraldo while pulling her through a lobby as she resisted, crying and latching on to banisters.

While a misdemeanor conviction doesn't automatically force Monserrate to vacate his Senate seat, it opens the door for colleagues to consider passing a resolution to either censure or expel him. That would require a 32-vote majority following a committee investigation. Republicans hold 30 seats and would need just two Democrats to join them to remove Monserrate, whose term runs through 2010.

Monserrate, 42, said he tripped while holding the glass, and rushed her to a hospital. Giraldo also said it was an accident. The wound above her left eye required between 20 and 40 stitches.

"A terrible accident occurred to my girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, a person that I love, and I have to live with that forever. There were no winners here," Monserrate said outside court after the verdict.

The outcome of the case rested mainly with Giraldo's testimony.

She said on the witness stand that her language barrier (Giraldo's native language is Spanish) prevented her from communicating properly with the staff at Long Island Jewish-North Shore Medical Center.

But she also dodged the prosecution's questions, sometimes answering only when the judge ordered her to and often contradicted previous statements she made. Assistant district attorney Scott Kessler said during closing arguments that she wasn't credible, and she lied on the witness stand to protect her abusive boyfriend.

But Judge William Erlbaum, ruling in a non-jury trial, said Giraldo's testimony carried more weight than that of the medical personnel, and it had to be taken at face value.

"There are two people who have actual knowledge about what happened in that apartment," Erlbaum said. "Can one know she's not being forgiving or that she's not being compassionate? One can't know that."

Prosecutors said Monserrate - a Marine and ex-cop - smashed Giraldo's face during an argument at his apartment Dec. 19 sparked by another man's card he found in her purse.

Surveillance tape shows Monserrate take the card to the trash chute outside his apartment, wave it at Giraldo, and toss it down. They spent the next two hours fighting, according to testimony from a downstairs neighbor who said she banged on the ceiling with a broom to get them to quiet down. She heard a woman crying and a thump.

Grainy surveillance footage later showed Giraldo making a beeline for the neighbor's door, as Monserrate grabbed her and dragged her downstairs.

District attorney Richard A. Brown, speaking after the verdict, said the conviction justified the trial without Giraldo's cooperation. Almost 75 percent of domestic violence victims refuse to participate in criminal proceedings, said Scott Kessler, who prosecuted the case.

"Today's decision holds a batterer accountable," Brown said.

Brown wouldn't say what sentence he was considering. "I think he's got to face his colleagues in Albany," he said.

Sen. John Sampson said the Senate Democratic majority's leaders were discussing "the potential for further disciplinary action."

Sampson, a Brooklyn lawmaker who heads the Democratic conference, said the incident has been "troubling," but that "the Senate will continue to move forward and fulfill its duty."

Senate Republican conference spokesman John McArdle said the GOP expected Sampson and Smith "will deal with this in an appropriate fashion."

During the trial, members of the State Assembly sent letters urging Erlbaum to convict Monserrate.

Just weeks after the incident, Monserrate was sworn in to the state Senate, and named chairman of the consumer affairs committee. This summer, he and fellow Democrat Pedro Espada Jr. brazenly ignited a coup in the Senate by joining a Republican-dominated coalition that overthrew the majority. The deadlock lasted a month before it was resolved.

A restraining order remains in place until sentencing. Defense attorney Joseph Tacopina said he didn't expect Monserrate to serve any jail time and that the order would be lifted.

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Associated Press writer Michael Virtanen in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.