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"Rape Cops" Jurors: Just No Evidence To Prove Cops' Guilt
By
Jen Chung
Published May 27, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 27, 2011
Modified Sep 9, 2011
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Yesterday, over two years after allegations were first made, Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata was acquitted of rape charges, as well as burglary and falsifying business records, but they were found guilty of official misconduct in their December 2008 dealings with a drunken East Village woman. While there were weeks of testimony suggesting strange occurrences, one juror explained to the NY Times, "There’s no way in the world under the sun and the moon and the stars that you can come down guilty on a charge so heinous without proof. The prosecution, they did an amazing job. They built a great case. But they never really crossed that line that would prove or help us to say guilty."
Moreno had been accusing of raping the woman, while Mata was allegedly his lookout. The juror, Richard Schimenti, did say he didn't believe Moreno's claims that the woman came onto him while wearing only a hot pink bra, but the rape allegations "sounded like a construct from the prosecution, which did not prove beyond any kind of reasonable doubt that there was a rape... I’m no big fan of Officer Moreno, believe me." He also told the Post, "There is no glee in what happened today. It's not a happy day... I just feel like bawling. We just did our jobs."
At a certain point, the jury was split between three people who thought the cops were guilty of rape while the others didn't; they asked for testimony to be read back to them. Another juror, Eric Casiano, said to the Daily News, "It came down to he said/she said. There were holes in his and her stories... The law says if you're not sure, if there is reasonable doubt, you have to say not guilty... It was the perfect storm. She was drunk and the two cops were there. I couldn't tell you what happened in that room." Casiano also believed that when the accuser confronted him—a conversation taped by the Manhattan DA's office—and Moreno admitted to using a condom after the accuser kept questioning him, "[Moreno] was just trying to get away from her. He didn't know what she was talking about."
The NYPD is moving ahead to fire Moreno and Mata, because the jurors found them guilty of official misconduct (the pair had escorted the accuser to her apartment—and then were spotted on surveillance videos returning to her building three times). Moreno said yesterday, "I thought she made the whole thing up. I hope everything works out for her... I wish her no harm."
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
accuser
acquittal
burden of proof
east village
evidence
franklin mata
jury
kenneth moreno
nypd
official misconduct
rape cop
reasonable doubt
trial
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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