NYPD Officers Kenneth Moreno And Franklin Mata Found Not Guilty Of Rape Charges

May 26, 2011 11:43 PM

Police officer Ken Moreno, second from left with co-defendant Franklin Mata, second from right, speak to the media outside Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 26, 2011. (credit: Louis Lanzano/AP)

Reporting Carol D'Auria

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – After seven weeks of testimony and seven days of deliberations, jurors on Thursday acquitted two New York City cops who were accused of raping a woman in December 2008.

Officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata were found not guilty of the most serious charges in the incident involving a then-27-year-old drunk fashion executive in her East Village apartment.

The two were also acquitted of other charges, including burglary and falsifying business records. Both, however, were convicted of official misconduct.

WCBS 880′s Irene Cornell: Moreno Is Just Glad It’s Over

The two look stunned, but remained stolid after hearing the verdict.

“I thought about my children,” Moreno said about hearing the not guilty verdict at a news conference outside the courthouse. “I didn’t even say goodbye to them this morning, this verdict came to us as a surprise. I thought about my wife and all the people that supported me throughout this.”

Moreno was accused of the sex act, and Mata was accused of helping Moreno by acting as a lookout.

“This has been a long two and a half years,” said Mata. “I’ve been innocent from day one. I’m glad everybody sees that now. I just want to go home and, like I said, get on with my life.”

1010 WINS’ Carol D’Auria reports: Moreno Says He Was ‘Greatly Relieved’ About Verdict

“In one second, your heart could be in the right place; another second, someone could misconstrue it and you could end up pretty close to where I was,” Officer Moreno said. “It’s too easy to point a finger at somebody and say, ‘hey, they did this.’”

The prosecution’s case rested largely on the witnesses’ testimony. There was no DNA linking the officers to the woman.

“It is a win,” Moreno said. “It’s a lesson and a win.”

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, however, said the officers were not off the hook.

The officers were each convicted of three official misconduct charges, all misdemeanors, for going back to the woman’s apartment three times after the initial call without telling dispatchers or superiors where they were.

“The guilty verdict that was reached today involved the violation of the officers’ oath of office, and as a result warrant immediate termination from the Police Department,” Commissioner Kelly said.

“We respect the jury’s verdict, which acknowledges that the defendants’ actions that night not only violated the law, they violated the victim’s rights,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.

WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond With Reaction From Police Commissioner Ray Kelly

During the trial, Moreno testified he went back to the woman’s apartment to check on her. But prosecutors said it wasn’t to check on her.

“Moreno wanted to have sex with her,” prosecutor Colleen Balbert told the jury during closing arguments.

Surveillance video showed they returned to her East Village apartment a total of four times.

The accuser testified she remembers throwing up and passing out that night, and was awakened to a cop having sex with her on her bed before passing out again.

Moreno said Thursday that the accuser made up the whole story.

“I made a judgment call. I believed in something that night and I paid for it,” he said. “I went there in all sincerity to help somebody. From the purest of my heart, my intentions were from the beginning just to help her.”

“He said he has regrets, but he didn’t do any crime, and he certainly did not have sex with the woman who said she was raped,” Moreno’s attorney, Joseph Tacopina, said.

Moreno testified during the trial that the accuser was flirtatious and tried to lure him onto her bed, while Mata said he dozed off on the couch in another room.

“I couldn’t believe that two officers who had been called to help me had, instead, raped me,” testified the woman, who is suing the city for $57 million over the incident.

Moreno and Mata still face up to a year in jail on each official misconduct charge. Sentencing is scheduled for next month.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

NYPD Officers Kenneth Moreno And Franklin Mata Found Not Guilty Of Rape Charges

Rapists

Your just dumb if you think they did not rape her. Her keys were taken. They made false 911 calls. They kept returning. Use your common sense. They were just hanging out in the apartment? They risked their jobs just to hang out? Guilty. Reign in these cops and send a message to the rest of them.
Jeffery Jones

The jury heard the evidence.and acquitted them. Is this an injustice? Do you think they would have been acquitted had DNA been found? Maybe the jury just could not find proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Not every police officer brought up on charges is guilty. It is not good to play judge, jury and executioner. Does anyone recall the Duke Lacrosse case? The alleged Victim in the Duke case is currently under arrest for murder. However, the public was ready to hang a bunch of kids without having any evidence against them. The judicial system is far from perfect.

titt

So one false accusation is supposed to be a reason for all rapists to go free? That is outrageous.

IgnoranteElephante

titt,

Again, how did these men were acquitted byy a jury of their peers. That’s how the system works. The judge did not set them free, the prosecutor did not let them walk, and the police department did not either. Rapists should be punished to the fullest extent of the law when a jury convicts them of rape. These men have not been convicted, and, therefore, in the eyes of the law, they are not rapists.

MIKE

FIVE LATINO BOYS WERE CONVICTED OF RAPING A JOGGER..SHE NEVER SAW HER ATTACKERS!

LETS NOT FORGET THE TURN OUT OF THAT CASE!!

THOSE BOYS LOST THEIR LIVELYHOOD!
jtorres

The public had a hard time accepting the story of the woman in the Duke lacrosse case within the week. The prosecutor was the one on the warpath and the one out to convict these kids no matter whether they were guilty or not. That’s why he was censured and eventually disbarred.
I was sure Moreno raped her but I wasn’t in the courtroom but remember: they weren’t found “innocent” they were found “not guilty” That only means there was reasonable doubt. Not that they didn’t actually do it.

GoodCop

…wait for the Federal Civil Rights convictions…I mean …trial.
dougalcandy

I too am of the opinion that justice has been served. Sorry, just because a woman cries rape doesn’t mean it always happened. Were they stupid? Yes? Offical misconduct? absolutely. But in this country, we do require hard proof to convict someont of a crime. No DNA, and the testimony of someone who was too drunk to even get herself home that night. Maybe next time she will think twice before getting so hammered that she can’t even fuction. Yes I am a woman, and I did not beleive this woman’s story from the beginning. These days it seems like everyone is out to mail bash–everything is always the fault of men, and women have elevated themselves to sainthood. Sorry, I don’t buy it. Good job jury!

JoeBronx

So far, DOUG, you have the best post of the day, including my own.

Elnora Altman

I tell you if you ever want to get away with a crime just become a NYPD.

Liz

SO TRUE

Julio

Has this turned into a third world county with ridiculous injustices? Or just another case where cops are allowed to be above the law? There was and continues to be no doubt in my mind about the guilt of these cops. This woman was drunk beyond reason and had no power to consent and cops, COPS took advantage of that. What pair of cops would spend a night at somebody’s house to take care of them, period, or even better – spend the night and look out for a person by sleeping on the couch while their partner has “consentual sex” with a person in the other room. This is disgusting.

Elle

I don’t know if you had seen, but someone else commented that maybe that cops had 1 friend or relative sitting on the jury and they fixed teh whole thing. My advice if your a women get the hell out of New York City. Just not safe here. also women and NYC residents should picket or riot or soemthing. This is a huge injustice. I though women were safe in this country.

JohnnyRocket

an absolute miscarriage of justice
styles

I am profoundly saddned for the young woman ; i cannot get past these two “R” taking her key; and I don’t see how the jurors move beyond that fact; they took her key because they wanted to engage her sexually;

But this is a country where a cop can shoot a black man 50 times (Bell), 21 times (Diallo), Glover, Bumpers, etc., etc., and have all walked away not guilty!

I offer, to the young lady the healing force from the great James Russell Lowell the Prsent Crisis: Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own!
JIM

THE LAWWWWW HAS SPOKEN, SO SHUT UP.
sickofit

shame on them and shame on the jury. this just confirms he public perception, or perhaps i should say, realization, that cops are above the law! i am ashamed of our entire justice system, and feel so sorry for the victim.
mike steede

Cops just dont go to jail in New York All the chit the’ve done over the years, and they just get away with it
Ant928

I admit their guilty of being idiots but glad justice was served for the rape.

“Oh gee, I’m so hammered I can’t remember where I was but I know that HE raped me!! What? No DNA? Ummm…but….well….really it happened I swear. I said I was hammered but I wasn’t *that* hammered. Honest!! Poor me poor me!”

Next time stick to soda lady…

JohnnyRocket

he admitted it on tape, that is all you need

Liz

Must say , am not at all surprised, the norm is that you carry and NYPD badge, you commit a crime and get way with it… KARMA
Cynical Taxpayer

Guity as sin. It will come out that one or two of the jurors held out – because they are related to a cop or a fireman. And the others just capituilated because of exhaustion. Disgraceful justice. Hope the judge throws out the verdict.

IgnoranteElephante

Right, and not only did these one or two hold out, but they also convinced the other ten or eleven to change their votes. because, as I am sure you are aware, it takes 12 to acquit as well as convict.

NoOneYouKnow

And a jury never returns a bad verdict, right? I’ve heard of juries that convicted innocent people because the jurors wanted to get home in time to watch the game.

Ant928

Not to mention the fact during selection I am SURE the attorneys asked “Are any of you police or firemen or related to one or are friends with one” of the jurors…wait…now you’re going to tell me a juror lied…never mind…idiot.

Joe Blo

OMG…This makes it official, NYC cops are ARE worse than Mississippi cops in !962 when it comes to lawlessness. How one earth could a jury of sane people find them innocent? The jury should be investigated for tampering.

IgnoranteElephante

Since a jury of their peers found them not guilty, the verdict couldn’t possibly make the lawless of the NYPD official. Perhaps, you have a problem with the jury’s verdict or even disagree with it, but it in no way means the cops were above the law. It means the jury didn’t beleive they raped this women beyond a reasonable doubt.

Anne Hill

are the misconduct charges misdemeanors?
James Santiago

guilty of misconduct though…and that means they’re finished as cops….
Surfin Bird

Justice has been served!!!!!
Titt

Wow! I can’t believe this. Above the law is right. You have to protect yourself from police.
JOE

Hope they are not going to still be on the force, just what we need.

Surfin Bird

they need to be on the force. they have been framed

L Katz

New York’s finest judged by New York’s dumbest

JoeBronx

Shut the hell up, hook-nose! Go steal some ketchup bottles & silverware from Brooklyn diners like the rest of your tribe does.

JoeBronx

Thank goodness for a sane jury! This case was a repeat of the Duke lacrosse case: A couple of lying hose monsters falsely accusing men of rape for a pay day. This broad belongs behind bars, period. Granted, cops used horrible judgment, and should look for another line of work, but they were not rapists. Hats off to the jury.

Sick of it

I totally agree! I’m a woman and am so sick and tired of these ignorants that instead of going to college and getting and education to support themselves take the easy way out. She thinks this is a payday. I hope she gets ZILCH. By the way, is she a minority?

JoeBronx

Probably not, Sick, otherwise, that’s ALL the biased media would have cared about.

JoeBronx

The $57,000,000 “pay day” that she was suing the city/taxpayers for. You are an imbecile.
NoOneYouKnow

Joe, I’ve read your comments before, and if they were found guilty you’d still defend them. Really, what you’re saying is that anyone who files a lawsuit for monetary damages must be lying and only out for the money. That’s not just hateful, it’s irrational. The cops’ story is transparently bogus. Mata was caught admitting to the rape on tape. The judge allowed prejudicial evidence against the victim. Total BS designed to protect the NYPD.

IgnoranteElephante

Told you so.
Paul G.

above the law!!!!!!!!!
kevin

Guilty….. To all you non-believers.. Wait and listen

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NYPD Officers Kenneth Moreno And Franklin Mata Found Not Guilty Of Rape Charges

May 26, 2011 11:43 PM

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