By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A retired NYPD detective convicted of smashing his then-girlfriend in the head with a 40-inch flat screen TV, a computer monitor and a vacuum was sentenced to six months in jail on Tuesday and ordered to undergo anger-management counseling.
Prosecutors said Richard Purcell, 46, tried to use his standing as a former police officer to pressure his victim, Maliesa Zimmering, not to tell authorities about the July 15, 2009 beating at his Gold Street apartment.
"He used his prior service to dominate and instill helpessness [in the victim]," Assistant District Attorney Jaime Hickey-Mendoza said.
Purcell slapped the telephone out of Zimmering's hand as she tried to call for help and later lied to investigators by claiming her injuries were the result of an accident, according to a criminal complaint.
When police questioned him, he told them, "I am a retired detective. Nothing happened. Can I have two minutes alone with her?"
Purcell was convicted on two counts of assault last month. In addition to the jail term, he will also have to serve five years on probation.
At his sentencing, Purcell, who served in the NYPD for 21 years was tearful and apologetic, and asked for leniency from Judge Renee White.
Purcell said he loved Zimmering. But she didn't seem to feel the same way. Zimmering told White that she'd "felt terror for years" while being physcially and mentally abused by Purcell.
Zimmering said she was glad Purcell will be learn a lesson for what he put her through.
"Now he knows he's not above the law," she said.
