By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Several "official misconduct" charges were dismissed against two East Village police officers on the eve of their rape trial, a Manhattan judge decided Tuesday.
Attorneys for Officers Kenneth Moreno, 43, and Franklin Mata, 28, had argued the official misconduct charges were bogus, saying that the officers were being charged criminally for things that should be treated as police department internal violations.
The officers will not face certain charges pertaining to failing to properly log where they were when they allegedly entered the rape victim's apartment at 506 East 13th St. Moreno is charged with raping the woman while Mata allegedly stood guard at her fifth-floor walk-up apartment.
In addition to the charges of rape, burglary and tampering with evidence, Moreno and Mata will still face charges for allegedly failing to call an ambulance for the woman, who defense lawyers will argue was too drunk to remember significant portions of the alleged incident on Dec. 7, 2008.
Four of 16 "official misconduct" charges remained after the judge tossed the others on Monday morning, just prior to the start of jury selection, the official beginning of the trial.
"The defendants were on duty as New York City police officers. They were at 506 East 13th Street responding to an intoxicated person in a taxi cab and it is alleged in the indictment that during the course of that night the alleged crimes occurred," Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro told a group of more than 100 potential jurors that were being screened for eligibility.
Several potential jurors seated in the gallery gasped when the judge described that the officers were charged with, including "rape in the first degree."
"I want you to keep in mind that this is an accusatory instrument...it is not evidence of anything that happened at that alleged time and place."
Among the other pre-trial rulings, the judge said he would also allow attorneys for Moreno and Mata to ask about a $62 million lawsuit against the city and NYPD pertaining to the rape accusation.
The officers face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
