Monserrate Is Right, The Truth Will Prevail

Finally after a few months, a grand jury indicted Senator Hiram Monserrate yesterday for five separate counts of assault (three in the second degree, two in the third degree). Monserrate and his girlfriend, after initially confusing their stories has been consistent on pleading his innocence. The Senator is so confident in that innocence, that he is determined to see the truth prevail in court. I for one, cannot wait to see that truth.

From PolitickerNY:

"The reality is that from the very beginning, I said this was an accident. My girlfriend said this was an accident, and we look forward to the dismissal of these charges based on the truth. Thank you very much," he said.

I asked whether he intended, then, to let the truth come out in court, rejecting any potential plea agreements in the matter.

"We are fully prepared to see that the truth prevails and we look forward to the dismissal of these charges based on the truth. I'm here doing the good work of my constituents, I will continue to do so, and I expect to be doing it for many more years."

What works for his constituents is for justice to be served. As an indicted man, Monserrate should have the decency to step down from the Senate, if only temporarily until the trial is over. The truth will prevail in this case Mr. Monserrate, no matter how badly Ms. Giraldo suffers from battered wife syndrome.

Oh and then there was this:

Monserrate had been sitting with colleague and fellow gang-of-four member Ruben Diaz Sr., who jumped in front of the camera to ask why, if both Monserrate and his girlfriend said it was an accident, the incident was being prosecuted. He asked why it was different than the case against Lehman Brothers bankruptcy Judge James Peck.

"Why are we dropping the charges against the white judge, but not the Hispanic politician?" he asked. Robin asked if reported surveillance tapes might have something to do with it.

Oh so now it's a racial issue as well. Monserrate's buddy is ready to pull out all the stops to sow doubt in the judicial process. Planting those racial remarks in the press has nothing to do with his case and everything to do with misleading the public on what this trial is about. I can't speak for the case against Peck, but the law has a responsibility to deal with abusive boyfriends, even if they are state senators.

Another Damning Yet Sad Update On Hiram Monserrate

The longer that this saga is allowed to unfold, the more depressing it gets. Monserrate's story hasn't changed since yesterday, but the evidence has. Nothing helps to confirm his story, but everything points to a girlfriend that is trying to protect an abusive partner that reads right out of a social worker's handbook.

From The NY Daily News:

Hiram Monserrate's girlfriend wants prosecutors to drop assault charges against the embattled Queens pol, despite telling cops last week that he slashed her in a jealous rage, law enforcement sources said yesterday.

Karla Giraldo told cops Monserrate cut her face with a broken drinking glass after he discovered she had another man's police union card in her purse, sources said.

Monserrate, a former cop, demanded to know more about the other man and why Giraldo accepted his Patrolmen's Benevolent Association card, a perk usually given to close friends or family, sources said.

"He was jealous. It was in her purse. He didn't like her explanations, and it got nasty," a law enforcement source said.

Noticeably her stories do not match up, and all the psychological schooling says the former is most likely correct. Further, the video surveillance that the cops recovered showing Monserrate pulling Giraldo by her hair on the way to the hospital is rather debilitating to Monserrate's claims of innocence. I truly hope Giraldo does not sway prosecutors, because if he is allowed to get away with this act of violence, it is only a matter of time until he attacks next.

With Shifty Monserrate, It Is Time For Smith To Take A Stand

The aftermath of what happened early Friday morning between Karla Giraldo and her abusive boyfriend Hiram Monserrate is nothing short of a textbook case of domestic violence that could easily be transcribed and put on Lifetime. The facts of the case are tragic and even more so that Ms. Giraldo stopped working with investigators after she had been treated at Long Island Jewish Hospital.

At first Monserrate claimed that tripping and falling caused Ms. Giraldo to suffer a bruised eye and severely lacerated face. Now he has his friends circulating news that Giraldo had a drug problem and that he was trying to take the drugs in her purse away (despite none being found on her by police that night).

From The NY Daily News:

Sources say Monserrate backers have told people the outgoing city councilman was upset to discover drugs in girlfriend Karla Giraldo's purse after they attended the Queens Democratic Party's holiday dinner on Thursday.

"He has been making calls and saying, 'It's not what you hear; I'm innocent,'" one state Senate Democrat reported.

"The story his people are spinning now is that [Giraldo] had drugs in her purse and he tried to take them away from her and there was a struggle."

How sad is that he is now blaming the victim for all of this. While Monserrate exhibits the typical "bastard" behavior for a man that beats up women, there is another man in the picture that needs to stand up and be a leader in all of this.

The next probable Majority Leader, Malcolm Smith has so far played it safe with this news. As the article states, while Monserrate was making calls to various State Senators to proclaim his innocence, so was Smith in order to get people to not immediately castigate the Senator-Elect. That type of position is not surprising coming from Smith, but it is still far different from the man that just recently said he'd rather let the Republicans have power so that "we would rather wait to take charge of the Senate than to serve the interest of a few."

Well Smith, are you trying to serve your self-interest in taking the Majority Leader position now by making excuses for the legal interests of Mr. Monserrate?

No Time For Lame Excuses Mr. Monserrate

Calling this guy Councilman or even Senator-Elect just seems wrong at this point. Hiram Monserrate may be innocent until proven guilty, as we are all entitled to but when you have an aggregation of facts it is hard to ignore what will most likely become of this domestic dispute, this violence, this criminal behavior. Monserrate could just come clean and apologize for his actions, but no, he has to be the greedy politician he is and do whatever it takes to escape blame.

From The NY Times:

At Mr. Monserrate’s arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on Friday evening, the assistant district attorney, Scott Kessler, said that Mr. Monserrate told the police he was bringing his companion, Karla Giraldo, 30, a glass of water and leaned over and tripped, and the glass hit her. But the prosecutor said that Ms. Giraldo later said that the couple had a “loud and boisterous” argument about an item he found in her purse. He was holding a glass, which broke in his hand, she told officers.

“Then, in emotion, he stabbed her,” Mr. Kessler said.

He said Ms. Giraldo was now saying that it was an accident and that she did not want an order of protection. Mr. Kessler noted that that was common in domestic violence cases.

I feel terrible that Mr. Monserrate's actions (this week's episode most likely not being the first) have led Ms. Giraldo to try and protect this monster. Thankfully the legal system can step in here and prosecutors can suss out the facts, so that in the end, whether or Councilman, Senator or not, Hiram will pay for his crimes in full (and hopefully for this one too).