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NYPD Fires Cops Acquitted Of Rape Charges
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 26, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published May 26, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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Hours after Officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata were found not guilty of rape, burglary and falsifying business records, the two officers were fired from the NYPD. Commissioner Ray Kelly said it was because they were found guilty of official misconduct, a misdemeanor, and said: "The guilty verdict reached today involved a violation of the officer's oath of office and merits immediate termination. Both officers will be terminated today."
Mayor Bloomberg reiterated that sentiment: “The charges that these officers were convicted of are enough to kick them out of the NYPD, which we’re moving to do.” (Moreno and Mata had been on NYPD payroll, making $150,000 and $110,000 respectively) but not working over the past two years.) As one likely cop wrote on NYPD message board Thee Rant, this was inevitable whatever the outcome of the trial: "Those papers were drawn up the day they were arrested. Did you think for a minute they weren't getting fired ? Just for making that phony 911 call and false entries in their "memo books" alone does them in."
After the trial, Moreno spoke to reporters outside the courthouse, and said he thought his accuser "made the whole thing up," despite a secretly-recorded tape in which Moreno admitted to the woman that he'd used a condom. Moreno also told reporters that the trial should serve as a warning to other cops:
Be very, very careful. I will say dot your Is, cross your Ts because in one second you could be...your heart could be in the right place and another second someone misconstrue it and you could end up pretty close to where I was. It's too easy to point a finger at somebody and say, 'Hey, they did this.'
This has been a long two and a half years. I've been innocent from day one. I'm glad everyone sees that now. I just want to go home, and like I say, get on with my life.
There is a protest scheduled for tomorrow outside the Manhattan Criminal Court building at 100 Centre Street, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. In addition, the accuser still has a $57 million lawsuit pending 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
cops
franklin mata
kenneth moreno
nypd
police
rape cop trial
Ray Kelly
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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