By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The criminal case against two police officers accused of raping a woman in her East Village apartment includes no physical evidence to support the claims, a lawyer for one officer told jurors in closing arguments Friday.
"No semen, no lubricant and no injuries means no sex — that's what that means," Joe Tacopina, attorney for suspended police officer Kenneth Moreno, argued before a jury.
Tacopina said the lack of biological evidence or signs of any sexual intercourse during the woman's exam at Beth Israel Hospital the day after the alleged attack should lead the jury to decide that Moreno is not guilty of raping her.
He said it is "bone-chilling" that charges would be brought against the officer with nothing more than the alleged victim's severely-impaired memory of the night in question.
He also said there's no proof that the woman was physically helpless and unable to consent — necessary elements for the rape charges — had there been any sex.
"It all really boils down to the rape charge because every other charge hinges on that," the attorney argued, telling the jury they should "do the right thing" and acquit Moreno and his partner.
Moreno, 43, and his partner, Franklin Mata, 29, are accused of taking advantage of the woman they'd been called to escort home from a cab because she was too intoxicated to get home by herself. Moreno is accused of raping her in her bedroom while Mata allegedly served as a lookout.
Moreno, a recovering alcoholic, said he was merely there to counsel and comfort the woman, who he said had an obvious drinking problem. He admitted only to "snuggling" with the alleged victim, who he claimed tried to seduce him in her drunken state.
The officers were captured on surveillance video making four separate trips to the woman's East 13th Street apartment between 12:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Dec. 7, 2008. Moreno allegedly raped the woman during the last visit.
But Tacopina said the woman, who was then a 27-year-old clothing company exec, claims that she doesn't remember talking to the officers, but said she was awake and chatting with Moreno after having several Red Bull and vodka drinks at a Brooklyn club.
The evidence showed she was wrong about many things that occurred that night, Tacopina said. She told her friends she believed her cab driver was an older Middle Eastern man when in fact he was a younger gentleman from Ghana.
She also once testified that she remembers seeing one of the officers sitting on her couch — but later said she didn't remember saying it, Tacopina argued.
"I don't think its a stretch to say that her perceptions of what occurred that night are not reliable," the attorney said in a passionate four-hour summation.
The attorney, famous for representing high-profile clients like Hiram Monserrate and rapper Foxy Brown, reminded jurors of Moreno's testimony on the stand in which he vehemently denied any sexual encounter occurred between himself and the woman.
He insisted that Moreno was "not sophisticated, maybe a simpleton" who's in no way capable of committing the atrocities he' being accused of.
The alleged victim testified to a very different story, telling the jury during emotional testimony that she woke up to the officer "penetrating" her from behind her as she lay helpless on her bed.
She admitted to suffering from long periods of alcohol-inducted blackouts that night, but said she distinctly remembered several things including the forced sex.
Moreno claims he never told his partner what happened inside the bedroom even though Mata was just feet away when Moreno and the woman were in there together.
"I don't kiss and tell," Moreno testified. "I have a reputation of not saying if I ever have anything with a young lady — I don’t say anything."
Mata testified that he had "dozed off" on the woman's couch while Moreno entered the bedroom with her, and didn't know anything about the incident.
Both officers have been suspended from the force and are accused of rape, burglary and official misconduct.
Jurors have heard five weeks of testimony in a trial that began April 4 in Manhattan Supreme Court before Judge Gregory Carro.
On Monday they will hear from Mata's attorney, Edward Mandery, and possibly the prosecutor's closing.
They face 25 years in prison if convicted.
