NYPD 'rape cops' lawyer told off for comparing woman's privates to 'snapping Venus fly trap'



Chad Seigel makes comment during graphic evidence

An NYPD ‘rape cops’ defence lawyer was rebuked by a judge today in court for likening a woman’s genitals to a ‘snapping Venus fly trap’.

Attorney Chad Seigel was reprimanded as a medical expert told the court marks on the woman’s body were consistent with her recollection of being assaulted in 2008.

NYPD officer Kenneth Moreno is accused of attacking the 29-year-old while colleague Franklin Mata stood watch, after they were called to help her home after a night out.

On trial: Kenneth Moreno, left, is accused of raping the woman at her New York apartment while colleague Franklin Mata, right, stood watch in December 2008

Mr Seigel, a lawyer for Moreno, made a comment during graphic cross examination, comparing a woman's genitals, saying: ‘It's not like a Venus Flytrap and snaps?’

But Judge Gregory Carro reprimanded him, saying: ‘That is a terrible example', reported the New York Daily News.

His comments came after sexual assault forensic specialist Karen Carroll was asked why there was no sign of vaginal tearing on the woman.

She explained that was not uncommon with an unconscious victim.



'If a person is passed out, they are probably not moving and you don't have as much difficulty getting the penis into the opening,' Ms Carroll said.



She said redness on the woman’s body was in the right area for being penetrated from behind.

‘It is consistent with something coming into contact with her cervix when she is lying on her stomach,’ she told New York Supreme Court.

Told off: NYPD 'rape cops' defence lawyer Chad Seigel, bottom right, was rebuked by a judge today for likening a woman's genitals to a 'snapping Venus fly trap'

The woman claims she was highly drunk as she was helped into her home by cops and awoke in 2008 lying face down on her bed with a man raping her from behind.

Moreno, 44, and Mata, 28, allegedly returning to her apartment three more times on the same night in December 2008. Both deny all charges.

The woman said the last time she had sex before the alleged attack was August 2008, and Ms Carroll said cervical bruising would only have lasted ‘a few days’.

No hair or DNA traces were found from either police officer accused of raping the woman in her bedroom at the alleged crime scene, the court heard on Tuesday.

Plant: Mr Seigel, made a comment during graphic cross examination, comparing a woman's genitals, of: 'It's not like a Venus Flytrap and snaps?'

The two cops gave investigators 50 plucked head hairs and 30 pubic hairs last year, but no matches were found with hairs from the woman’s Manhattan apartment.

No semen or saliva was detected in the woman's underwear or various swabs in a hospital rape kit, city medical examiner Jason Kolowski told the court.

But prosecutors say that Moreno used a condom, after he made a confession during a taped conversation with the woman - although he also said ‘nothing happened’.

In court on Monday, the alleged victim finished her third day of testimony by telling New York Supreme Court she could have been drugged on the night of the attack.

The trial continues.