Monserrate Trial and Expulsion

[dssjh]

i think that a "man" who makes a habit of searching his significant other's purse in search of...whatever...is the kind of "man" who'd lie about assaulting said significant other.

hoping some of the gentlemen he meets in prison remember him from his days as a crooked cop

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Security-Video-Played-in-Monserrate-Assault-Trial-60297527.html

what do you guys think?

[Aronan]

Someone mentioned recently that MonsterRat was offered a deal that would have allowed him to keep his seat in Albany but he turned it down.  This person didn't know any details.  Why would he turn it down?

Any deal would probably require him admitting that it wasn't just an accident, but a heated argument that got out of control. Monseratte can not afford to admit that, especially not at this point. Even if it meant keeping his seat in Albany it would be an issue that would dog him in future races, especially ones where he'd have to go beyond the base he's built in JH, E.Elmhurst, Corona, etc. Though he's done a good job at shooting him self in the foot without the whole felony assault charges, so it really is any one's guess as to what's going through his head.

[erospolitico]

I was watching some news coverage this morning, both Hiram Monserrate and Karla Giraldo surround themselves with quite interesting people.

As a resident of Jackson Heights, I know them all by face and reputation.

Firstly, Hiram is being supported by Ramon Baez, who for many years published a newspaper that was negative to all candidates that were not Hiram Monserrate, much like Resumen, which is run by Karla Giraldo's relatives.

The bigger issue I find is Karla Giraldo, walk hand in hand with Miriam Mercedez Hernandez.

If no one has ever heard of her, she is currently facing charges from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office for scamming immigrants, by taking money to file INS forms, and pocketing the money.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/05/13/2009-05-13_queens_businesswoman_.html


No big surprise, that shady people, follow other shady people.

Also, very interesting to see that Mr. Monserrate's lawyer is trying to claim that the ER doctor did not understand Ms. Giraldo, yet the doctor is bilingual and of hispanic heritage.

First, he claims that Ms. Giraldo was drunk, now he claims she is incoherant, what line of b/s is next?

[StevenGrey]

I have two questions for those who might be more knowledgeable about our state's election laws:

1. If Monseratte should somehow come through this trial without being convicted of a felony and retain his state senate seat, can we as the electorate do anything to remove him from office before his term expires, such as circulating a petition asking for a recall election?

2. If Monseratte is convicted and loses his state senate seat, how will his replacement be selected? Will a special election need to be held or will someone have the power to appoint his replacement in the interim?

[Queenskid]

There are no recalls in New York.  I believe the Governor can call a special election, but he can't appoint a replacement.

[Chuckster]

I was recently discussing this issue with a friend, and he brought up the subject of reasonable doubt.  Do you think it exists in this case?

The last I read on the case involved a doctor's testimony stating that Ms. Giraldo kept changing her story in the emergency room.  I also read that she kept screaming something like, "I can't believe he cut my face", or something along those lines.  In my opinion, this doesn't help his case.

[Queenskid]

I was recently discussing this issue with a friend, and he brought up the subject of reasonable doubt.  Do you think it exists in this case?

Reasonable doubt is always in the eye of the beholder.  In this case it's the judge who has to be convinced of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  I don't know why Monserrate waived a jury here.  Usually, you only waive a jury when you think there are flaws in the prosecution's case that are so subtle or sophisticated that it will be lost on a typical juror.  This case seems to be the opposite: the defendant's best chance would be to luck out with a juror who thinks any inconsistency in the People's case, no matter how trivial, creates a reasonable doubt.  Think OJ.  Where would he be if he had waived a jury and left it up to the judge (probably in the same place he is now, prison).  Of course, the Monserrate defense team also made a lot of noise about the supposed language barrier in the emergency room.  Then it comes out during the treating physician's testimony that she is Latina and she majored in Spanish in college.  What were Monserrate's lawyers thinking.

One word of caution.  It's hard to determine whether reasonable exists when you only follow the case in the papers.  You're seeing the case through the eyes of a reporter who may not be reacting to the evidence the same way the finder of fact is. 

[Chuckster]

This case seems to be the opposite: the defendant's best chance would be to luck out with a juror who thinks any inconsistency in the People's case, no matter how trivial, creates a reasonable doubt. 

Agree with you on this 100%.  I think, a jury would be more suited to view Giraldo's reversed claims of accident as reasonable doubt.  How can a judge approach this?  If she continues to deny that the incident was intentional, how can Monserrate be found guilty when a key person refuses to testify against him?  Is there enough evidence to convict him otherwise?

[Queenskid]

Agree with you on this 100%.  I think, a jury would be more suited to view Giraldo's reversed claims of accident as reasonable doubt.  How can a judge approach this?  If she continues to deny that the incident was intentional, how can Monserrate be found guilty when a key person refuses to testify against him?  Is there enough evidence to convict him otherwise?

There is more than enough evidence: the nature of the injury, the statements of the victim, the video.  Each one corroborates the others.   

People who handle domestic violence cases receive training on the all too common phenomenon of the victim changing her story.  The judge in this case presides over a domestic violence part.  That's the reason he has this case.  I'd be shocked if he hasn't been trained in, and experienced first hand, this phenomenon.  That's another reason why I was surprised that Monserrate waived a jury.  His defense is dependent on the victim's new story casting a reasonable doubt over the case.  That strategy is a lot less effective when the trier of fact is someone who has been taught that DV victims change their story and that the original version of events is usually the truth.

[Shelby2]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/nyregion/01monserrate.html?ref=nyregion

October 1, 2009
Monserrate Companion Asserts Cuts Were Accidental
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

Testifying publicly for the first time as the most crucial witness in the assault trial of State Senator Hiram Monserrate of Queens, his companion, Karla Giraldo, volunteered repeatedly on Wednesday that he cut her face accidentally last Dec. 19.

“He was not dragging me,” Ms. Giraldo said of a security video that showed Mr. Monserrate yanking her away from a neighbor’s door and through the lobby on the way to a hospital. “He never hurt me or did anything to me. He was pulling me for my own good, and thanks to him I’m all right and my face is all right.”

The prosecution, which had been under pressure to call Ms. Giraldo as the supposed victim, carefully avoided asking her just how her face came to be cut, at the risk of giving her answer legal credibility. Lawyers may not present a witness whose testimony they believe to be false.

“It’s not the prosecution position,” an assistant district attorney, Scott Kessler, said of her assertions of an accident. “Nor did I believe I’d be offering truthful testimony to the court,” he told Justice William M. Erlbaum, who is hearing the case without a jury in State Supreme Court in Queens.

In a dramatic day replete with unusual twists, Ms. Giraldo, 30, broke down once, when asked to view the video showing her holding a towel to her bleeding face as she and Mr. Monserrate rushed out of his Jackson Heights apartment after the prosecution says he slashed her face with a broken glass in a jealous rage.

Putting a hand to her face, she began to sob. “I can’t go on,” she blurted and was allowed out to compose herself.

Click link above for rest of article.

[dssjh]

Ms. Giraldo may not believe she needs the court to protect her from this male creature ('man' should be reserved for, well, *men*) but i'd feel safer if he were off the streets.

[dssjh]

a letter to the editor in today's daily news asks an interesting question. i am repeating it here -- and wonder what folks here might say?

Glass alibi

Jackson Heights: I was wondering why, if state Sen. Hiram Monserrate did slip and accidentally smash a glass against his girlfriend's face, why did he not have any cuts on his hand. I would think that if the glass broke in his hand as it hit his girlfriend's face with such force that she needed 30 or 40 stitches, he, too, would have suffered some cuts from the broken glass.

Emily Butler



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/letters/index.html#ixzz0Sn2WDaMh

[Queenskid]

I thought that there was testimony that Monserrate did have some small cuts on his fingers.  Of course, I'm not sure what that proves.  The prosecution claims that he broke the glass with his hand and slashed the victim.  The defense claims that he broke the glass by accident.  Either way, he could very well have cuts on his fingers.

[liam0925]

Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Judge tosses 2 of Hiram's charges
From the Queens Courier:

Justice William Erlbaum dismissed counts three and five – assault in the second degree and assault in the third degree – in State Senator Hiram Monserrate’s trial, but left the top charge.

The bombshell developments took place on Tuesday, October 6, near the end of the seventh day of Monserrate’s trial, which saw the prosecution rest its case and the defense call its first witness.

Monserrate Defense Attorney Joseph Tacopina argued that Erlbaum should dismiss all six charges against his client because the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Posted by Queens Crapper at 6:20 PM  

And this from NY1  http://ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/106873/judge-drops-two-charges-in-monserrate-trial

[Shelby2]

From the Times:

The two counts were dismissed by Justice William M. Erlbaum in State Supreme Court in Queens after arguments by a defense lawyer, Chad Siegel. The counts charged Mr. Monserrate with acting recklessly in his handling of the glass in his apartment, an accusation that the judge found was incompatible with the prosecution theory that he had acted intentionally.

“You can’t convict on both theories,” Justice Erlbaum told the assistant district attorney, Scott Kessler.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/nyregion/07monserrate.html