By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The woman who accused a pair of former NYPD officers of raping her should be barred from speaking when the officers are sentenced on misconduct charges next month because a jury ruled she wasn't a victim, one of the ex-cops' attorneys said Tuesday.
Joseph Tacopina, who represents ex-officer Kenneth Moreno, said the woman "had her day in court" when she took the stand to give tearful testimony at he officers' trial in April.
"She is not a victim on any count of the conviction," Tacopina said Tuesday, after a court appearance before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro.
Tacopina said he and Edward Mandery, the attorney for Moreno's former partner, Franklin Mata, will file a motion to formally oppose the woman's ability to speak.
"I've never in my career as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney had an alleged victim speak at a misdemeanor sentencing," Tacopina said after the court appearance.
Carro has not ruled yet on whether to allow the fashion executive to speak. Mata and Moreno were supposed to be sentenced Tuesday, but that was pushed back to August.
He said Tuesday that all felony victims are allowed to give a victim impact statement under the law, but said it is unclear what the case will be here given there is no felony conviction.
The 29-year-old fashion industry executive accused ex-cop Kenneth Moreno, 43, of taking advantage of her while his partner Franklin Mata, 29, stood guard on Dec. 7, 2008, after the cops were called to help her out of her cab and into her East Village apartment after she had a night of partying with friends.
A jury acquitted the officers of rape and burglary on May 26 but convicted them of three counts each of misdemeanor official misconduct for entering the woman's apartment three times the night of the alleged attack.
Jurors told DNAinfo they believed the officers were guilty of rape, but they opted not to convict because they believed that a lack of DNA evidence meant the act could not be legally proven.
"We'd like to have the complainant here to be able to speak," Assistant District Attorney Coleen Balbert said in court Tuesday, in asking for an Aug. 8 sentencing rescheduled date.
The sentencing was originally set for Tuesday morning, but it was postponed so attorneys for the ex-officers can review video clips from a recent HBO documentary "Sex Crimes Unit" in which prosecutors discussed the criminal case.
Tacopina said he believes the clips could be reason for the judge to declare a mistrial on the official misconduct conviction, because one of the investigators on the case discussed it on camera.
That investigator later testified at the ex-offcers' trial. Under the law, all recorded materials pertinent got a witness are supposed to be turned over to the defense before the trial, Tacopina said.
