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"Gunpoint Rape Cop" Didn't Intend To Hurt Anybody, Says Lawyer
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 24, 2011
Modified Aug 24, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 24, 2011
Modified Aug 24, 2011
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The 27-year-old police officer accused of raping a woman at gunpoint in Inwood early last Friday was indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan today. And while Michael Pena's two lawyers didn't deny any of the allegations against him, they told reporters as they left court that their client never intended to hurt anyone: “There is absolutely no doubt that there was no intent on the part of Michael Pena to hurt anyone. There was certainly no intent to sexually abuse anybody on that day," said defense attorney Martin Goldberg.
Pena, a three-year veteran who works out of the 33rd Precinct, is accused of accosting a 25-year-old teacher he met on the street at 6:15 a.m. last Friday, and drunkenly forcing her to have sex with him behind an apartment building. Pena was called "as mild-mannered and as humble an individual as you would ever meet" by Goldberg, while his other lawyer, Juan Campos, previously said: "If these allegations are true, I believe it is a complete aberration...I'm not saying alcohol excuses this, if that's true, but it may explain certain behavior."
For his own defense, Pena claimed in a jailhouse interview that "The DA is arresting cops, indicting cops. They're trying to make an example out of me." But local pol's argued that this wasn't a witch hunt at all: "Pena's statement is outrageous and a slap in the face of all New Yorkers," they said. "This case is a black eye for the NYPD. We know the 34,000 police officers put their lives on the line every day to protect New Yorkers and are not happy about this case," City Councilman Robert Jackson and Assemblyman Guillermo Linares said in a statement.
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drunk
gunpoint rape cop
inwood
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michael pena
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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