By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Jurors in the trial of a police officer who allegedly raped a drunk woman while his partner stood guard have asked to review the alleged victim's testimony after more than three days of deliberations.
The jury — a panel of seven men and five women — sent a note to Judge Gregory Carro asking for a read back of everything the now-29-year-old woman said on the stand last month about the officers' four visits to her East Village apartment between about 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Dec. 7, 2008.
The woman spent close to three full days on the stand during the seven-week trial being questioned by prosecutors and defense attorneys about her hazy memories of the night in question. It could take several hours to read her testimony aloud to the jurors beginning Tuesday morning.
The woman testified that despite periods of alcohol-induced blackouts, she clearly remembered harrowing moments during the alleged assault, including one memory of waking up to police officer Kenneth Moreno tearing off her pantyhose and raping her from behind.
Prosecutors say Moreno and his partner, Franklin Mata, took advantage of the helpless woman after being called to the scene to help her get home from a cab.
Moreno, 43, and Mata, 29, are each charged with rape, official misconduct, falsifying records and burglary for allegedly entering the apartment without her permission.
The jury has been deliberating the fate of the officers since May 18. They have already asked to review the transcripts of the interactions between the woman and officer Moreno in a tape-recorded phone call and an in-person confrontation orchestrated by the DA's office.
Moreno testified that he lied to a 911 dispatcher about a bogus job to buy himself more time with the woman, claiming he felt the need to check on her and counsel her about her alcohol problem. He has staunchly denied having sex with her, saying the most they did was "snuggle" in her bed. He testified that she stripped down to her bra and tried to seduce her in her drunken state.
Mata said he was dozing off on the couch when Moreno and the woman were in the bedroom together and did not know what was happening inside the room.
Prosecutors have accused both officers of lying about their whereabouts the night in question, lying about their actions on the stand, and taking steps to destroy their memo books and cover their tracks in an attempt to conceal their crimes.
