The trial of the two police officers accused of raping a drunk East Village woman has been delayed another week because the cops have been hit with new charges. Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata now face "11 [more] charges against the officers, including official misconduct and falsifying business records," for their alleged role in the 2008 incident—and there's new evidence, a video showing them entering the woman's apartment building a fourth time." The prosecution and a defense lawyer each claimed that the evidence would help them.

Back in December 2008, Moreno and Mata were dispatched by 911 after a taxi driver had called to say his fare vomited in his cab and didn't have any money. A surveillance video showed the cops helping her inside her East Village apartment and leaving at 1:10 a.m.—but then they returned almost an hour later, staying for about 20 minutes, and then at 3 a.m., the cops return again, staying for 34 minutes. For the third visit, which is when the rape allegedly occurred, Moreno and Mata allegedly called 911 and claimed a homeless man was in front of a building near the victim's apartment, knowing that they would be dispatched to the neighborhood.

The fourth visit, mentioned today by prosecutors, apparently shows "the cops returned yet again, shortly after 4 a.m., and stayed for an hour - allegedly after signing out for a meal break." Assistant DA Coleen Balbert said, "This new evidence in no way makes the people's case weaker - but rather stronger," while Joseph Tacopina, who is representing Moreno, was skeptical that it made the case stronger, "These two police officers came back to check on their so-called rape victim, an hour later? That would mean a guy who raped a woman would come back an hour later -- what? To see if she's OK?" The official misconduct charge is for allegedly not calling an ambulance for the intoxicated woman.

A tape of the victim confronting Moreno outside the precinct house is another piece of evidence. In the tape, Moreno says he did use a condom (the defense claims Moreno said that so the woman wouldn't cause a scene; Mata is not accused of having sex with the woman, but he faces rape charges because he was allegedly Moreno's lookout and acted "in concert").

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.



