Sen. Hiram Monserrate was sentenced to 3 years probation, 250 hours of community service and 52 weeks of domestic abuse counseling in Queens County Supreme Court today.
The sentencing shows both the privileges that come along with holding a position of power and the difficulties that women and courts face in dealing with domestic violence cases.
Assistant District Attorney Scott Kessler recommended 60 days in jail along with three years probation, domestic violence counseling and a $1,000 fine. Kessler argued correctly that Monserrate has shown no understanding of the seriousness of his actions or underlying problems, nor has he taken any responsibility for his actions.
Their remains little doubt that on the night of Dec. 19, 2008, Hiram Monserrate in a jealous rage took a broken drinking glass and slashed his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, across the face causing 40 stitches worth of damage. Giraldo, in a situation all too common in domestic abuse cases, told the truth to health care providers while being treated in the emergency room but later recanted and told a whopper of a story to cover up for her abuser.
Far too often a woman with a black and blue swollen face tells a tale of "walking into a door" either out of fear of further abuse from her attacker or out of a misguided belief in the attackers promises of repentance and sorrow. In Giraldo's case her recanted tale is that she was passed out and Monserrate was bringing her a glass of water. Monserrate tripped splashing her face with cold water. Startled awake she sat up with such force that she slammed her face into the glass in his hand breaking it and cutting her own face to the bone.
I buy it. Don't you?
Unfortunately there are no witnesses other than the self-interested Monserrate and the deluded Giraldo. However, there is video tape of what occurred in the hallway and vestibule of their apartment building after the attack. Take a look:
Monserrate was convicted Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009 of a misdemeanor assault based on what you just saw on that tape. In it one can clearly see the look of shear terror on Giraldo's face as he pulls her through the vestibule doorway of their apartment building and out into the night. That look alone puts the lie to her fantastic cover-up story.
At the time of Monserrate's conviction Judge Erlbaum had this to say in regard to the felony counts involving what happened behind the closed doors of the couples apartment,
"There are two types of not-guilty findings. One is innocence, the other is not proven -- these counts were not proven."
Erlbaum also said,
"In my view the state has clearly proven he did indeed cause injury to Karla Giraldo without a reasonable doubt," the judge said. "She's injured and bruised, black and blue marks. There's skin tearing. There's already injuries and a lot of blood."
Erlbaum added,
"It was not for Ms. Giraldo to forgive Mr. Monserrate and drop the charges. Count 6 belongs to the community. She cannot give up the community's cause of action here."
Justice Erlbaum said that while he was required under the circumstances to give Mr. Monserrate "the benefit of the doubt" as to what happened inside the apartment, the building videos showed an assault in the hallway. He said that while Mr. Monserrate may have shown some concern for Ms. Giraldo, "it's not unreasonable there was another concern: to get her away from the house and neighborhood where the defendant had roots and get her to a place of low visibility to keep things under the radar."
Testimony showed that Mr. Monserrate rejected Ms. Giraldo's plea to call 911 and drove her 14 miles to Long Island Jewish Medical Center on the Queens-Nassau border, bypassing Elmhurst Hospital Center four blocks away.
The New York Senate created a Special Committee of Inquiry on Monday November 9 and it convened its first meeting within hours of being established.
Committee Chair Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, began by noting that state law -- which grants the Legislature broad powers to judge the conduct of its members -- provides for the creation of such a panel. He emphasized that the nine-member committee's work would be concerned with going over the record and advising the Senate on appropriate action to take, and would not "relitigate" the court case.
...
Schneiderman said the panel would try to wrap up by the end of the year, with future meetings devoted to going over the trial record, hearing material from Monserrate's council, and framing the final report to the full Senate.
The committee held its second meeting Monday, November 23 behind closed doors. One outcome was a request to Judge Erlbaum for access to grand jury testimony which the judge received officially today. Monserrate will be given the opportunity to present his case to the committee at their next meeting. Sen. Schneiderman has stated that he expects the committee to wrap up its business and present its findings and recommendations to the full Senate before the end of the year.
So there we have it. A convict State Senator. A poster child for much of what is wrong with the Senate as it exists today. In an attempt to save his own skin he willing joined with Pedro Espada in throwing in with the Republicans back in the June coup. The result was absolute chaos and turmoil in the Senate and our state government as a whole. The Republicans in their desperate desire to regain the power they wielded for so long through the likes of Joe Bruno (his corruption trial currently in the jury's hands) willing opened their arms to Espada and Monserrate, a corrupt politician after their own hearts and a slasher. They apparently saw no problems with that. They even went so far as to make Espada Senate President Pro Tem.
To make matters worse the Democratic caucus in its desperate desire to cling to the power they had only recently gained began negotiations with the slasher and welcomed him back with open arms. They then opened negotiations with the traitor and thoroughly corrupt Espada and eventually welcomed him back with equally open arms. Only a few, less then have fingers on my hand, spoke publicly about the obvious loss of integrity in these actions. The rest, well, power has its prices and they apparently are just as willing as the Republicans to pay whatever price power costs. The Democrats in their turn made Espada Senate Majority Leader, though to their credit they have done what they could to neutralize him and make the position devoid of the power it would usually hold.
Ladies and Gentlemen... Your New York State Senate.
If you have not done so yet please sign our petition at FireMonserrate.com. We will be delivering the petition to the Special Committee of Inquiry demanding Monserrate's ejection from the Senate.
The sad truth however is that Monserrate is a symptom of the disease and not the disease itself. Pedro Espada is a symptom of the disease and not the disease itself. Joe Bruno is a symptom of the disease and not the disease itself.
We at RebootNY.org are committed to infusing the Senate with as much new blood as we possibly can. New blood committed to reforming the Senate from the ground up... from the electoral process, to the rules they use to do business, to the rules by which lobbyists effect that business and more.
Our website is currently being built but we have a placeholder where you can sign up for news and updates and where you can contribute to the startup funds for this important cause.
New York State government is a disaster and the Senate is the biggest disaster area of all. It is the starting point for rebuilding a government that works for New Yorkers and not just to maintain power for entrenched interests.
State Senate Special Committee of Inquiry gets to see Grand Jury testimony:
Ruling on a motion by lawyers representing the State Senate committee probing the incident, Justice Erlbaum agreed to release transcripts of Ms. Giraldo's grand jury testimony, but denied their request for copies of other testimonies and documents presented to grand jury.
The lawyers, Daniel R. Alonso and David L. Lewis, said that the committee is specifically interested in what transpired in the 37 minutes that took Mr. Monserrate and Ms. Giraldo to drive from his home to the hospital. The committee's goal is to determine whether Mr. Monserrate meets "the standards of fitness to serve," Mr. Alonso said.
Judge Questions Karla Giraldo over request to remove Order of Protection
The sentencing was an unusually long proceeding for a misdemeanor case - it began at 9:30 a.m. and did not end until four hours later. And it was punctuated by a remarkable back-and-forth between Justice Erlbaum and Ms. Giraldo over whether to lift an order of protection that had kept her and Mr. Monserrate apart for almost a year.
"What, Karla Giraldo, are you?" Justice Erlbaum asked, wondering whether she was a submissive woman or an assertive one.
Whispering to an interpreter, who relayed her words to the court, Ms. Giraldo replied, "He does not dominate me. He doesn't have any control over my life."
The judge, however, stayed the protective order, but said he could reevaluate his decision in the future.
