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Woman Accusing Cops Of Rape Recalls Horrific Night
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 14, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 14, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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The never not disturbing reports from the rape cop trial continue today, with testimony from the unidentified victim herself. "Someone was rolling my tights down my leg," she told jurors this morning as she described waking up on her bed, face down. According to the NY Post, the "pretty, 29-year-old fashion executive" testified that she remembers specific moments and sensations from that night two police officers, Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, helped her into her East Village apartment because she was too drunk to get out of a cab. Her horrific memories include:
- Police radio static and someone (prosecutors say it was Moreno) ordering, "Drink the water" after she vomited in the bathroom.
- The ripping sound of Velcro as Moreno allegedly took off his bulletproof vest.
- "Being penetrated from behind... I woke up because the action of him penetrating me was so hard, that my head was moving so hard against my window that I thought I was going to go through it."
- "Hands, pressing all around me" on the bed "looking for something. And all around me there's like a flashlight, looking around me on the bed...I could see the light out of the corner of my eye. It was very dark. That light was very clear."
The woman woke up the next morning with her clothes off, and says that she realized what had happened to her in the shower and told her friends. While describing the rape, she broke down in tears and the judge called a recess. But she's expected to continue her testimony later today and possibly tomorrow; the defense will try to establish that she wasn't so drunk that she couldn't say no. According to the Post, "Defense lawyers plan to hit the woman hard in cross examination, in hopes jurors will think she conspired with girlfriends to concoct the rape claim so she can win in her $60 million federal lawsuit against the city."
Update (9/9/11): Gothamist has published a long-form feature about the Rape Cop case, written by one of the jurors. It takes you behind the scenes during their deliberations, and explains how they came to their controversial verdict. Buy it today as a PDF or on Kindle.
Tagged
east village
franklin mato
kenneth moreno
nypd
rape cop
rape cop trial
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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