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Cops "Raped Me, Left Me In A Pool Of Vomit In My Bed To Die"
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 15, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 15, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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After hearing tearful testimony yesterday from a young woman accusing an NYPD officer of raping her while his partner acted as a lookout, jurors heard an audio recording she secretly made ten days after the alleged attack. You can read the transcript in full below; the unidentified victim is identified here as "Controlled Witness" or C.W. She confronted Officer Kenneth Moreno outside the 9th Precinct station house, and though he denies raping her when she was passed out drunk in her apartment, he also "reassures" her that he used a condom. And in another confusing contradiction, Moreno explains, "It was my daughter's birthday that day. I was in a very helpful mood."
Moreno contradicts himself repeatedly during the conversation, assuring her she doesn't have to worry about getting an STD, but also saying, "You're asking me to admit to something that never happened." The woman will be cross-examined by defense attorneys today; they're expected to argue that she wasn't so drunk she couldn't say no, and that Moreno and his partner, Franklin Mata, returned to her apartment four times that night "to check on her." But it could be tough sledding getting the jury to buy this, especially since their client was caught on tape telling the woman, "It turned from us trying to help you, to getting really crazy ok? Alright?"
The accuser broke down while graphically describing the December 7, 2008 incident; she admitted to blacking out at various points in the evening, but described when she woke up at one point, one man "was talking to me. He said something to the effect of, ‘Do you want me to stay?’" According to the NY Times, "She did not respond, she said, and the man kissed her on her shoulder. She passed out again, she said. She woke up in her dark bedroom to the sound of two men speaking at the foot of her bed, she said." Later, after she woke up for good, she felt that she had been raped and scrubbed herself in the shower, “just tried to basically take my skin off." The 29-year-old also testified, "I couldn't believe two police officers that had been called to help me had instead raped me and left me in a pool of vomit in my bed to die."
Moreno's lawyer claims that his client only—and falsely— admitted to using a condom so the accuser wouldn't make a scene. But the accuser said, "This is going to sound kind of weird, but when he said it, he kind of relaxed and, actually, so did I, because he finally admitted what he did to me."
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
franklin mata
kenneth moreno
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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