By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The trial of two police officers accused of raping a woman they were supposedly helping get home after a night of partying will finally begin Tuesday after a judged tossed the defense's bid to get additional rape charges dismissed.
Defense lawyers for officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata tried to get the case thrown out because they say the woman was too "blacked out" the night of the alleged incident and that her testimony would be unreliable, according to court documents filed last week.
They said she "could not recall how much alcohol she drank" and she did not remember "entering the cab to leave the Park Slope club at which she had been partying" on Dec. 7, 2008.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro denied the request to dismiss most of the new indictment, which includes many of the original charges as well as charges of first-degree rape, burglary and official misconduct, among others.
But Carro reserved his ruling on whether to dismiss the official misconduct charges against them. Those charges pertain to their alleged failure to call an ambulance to treat her and for not following other rules of police protocol, including logging where they were.
Moreno, 43, is accused of taking advantage of the woman while his partner, Mata, 28, allegedly stood guard at her East 13th Street apartment.
The case was presented to a grand jury again after prosecutors said they overlooked a piece of evidence — the officers alleged fourth visit to the woman's apartment early the morning of the alleged rape.
The officers were suspended from duty following the allegations.
A physician from Bellevue Hospital told grand jurors that the woman did show signs of injuries, but argued the testimony was inconclusive and did not mean that the sex was necessarily forcible, the lawyers argued.
The 27-year-old alleged victim is expected to testify at the trial, which may open next week following jury selection.
The officers faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count alone.
