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Paramedic: "Rape Cop" Lied Under Oath
By
John Del Signore
Published May 13, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 13, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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During earlier testimony in the "rape cop" trial, Officer Kenneth Moreno testified that part of the reason he was reluctant to call an ambulance for a vomiting drunk woman was because a few months earlier he'd seen a man die after the EMS was delayed by "a drunk that was giving them a hard time." Moreno went on to say, "I worked on him," referring to the 82-year-old heart-attack victim. He claimed that he tried in vain to resuscitate the man, but by the time the ambulance arrived 20 minutes later, it was too late. Well, yesterday the paramedic who responded to that incident testified that Moreno's account was completely bogus.
"We found the patient to be face flat on the floor, unresponsive, with his wife right next to him," EMT Manuel Karamanos told the jury, adding that Moreno wasn't even there when he arrived. And even if Moreno had in fact tried to resuscitate the man, he would have been on his back. Furthermore, the computer in the ambulance shows that Karamanos arrived at the scene ten minutes after the call came through. And when Moreno got to the apartment, Karamanos testified that Officer Moreno did nothing to assist them. (Dare we say he was busy "consoling" the man's wife?) Also, there was no "drunk guy... giving them a hard time" that night.
The Times sums up Karamons's testimony thus: "though not pivotal to the question of whether Officer Moreno raped the woman, [it] was a blow to the officer’s credibility in a case that may well come down to whom the jury believes more: the officers or the woman." Summations in the six week trial are expected to start today. Earlier this week, Moreno testified that he didn't say anything to his partner about the half hour he spent in the woman's bedroom spooning her while she "slept" wearing just a bra because he doesn't "kiss and tell." Yesterday his lawyer, defense attorney Joseph Tacopinam, decided to just own the shocking admission by telling the Daily News, "We wanted this jury to hear that." With lawyers like these, who needs prosecutors?
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
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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