A grand jury has indicted two NYPD officers in the alleged rape of an intoxicated woman they had escorted to her East Village apartment. Sources tell City Room that a grand jury voted last week to indict officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, but the exact nature of the charges is still unclear. A lawyer for officer Moreno, a 17-year veteran on the force, says, "My client will appear in court tomorrow and enter a plea of not guilty. We look forward to a rigorous examination of the district attorney’s evidence."
The two cops, who were stripped of their guns and badges and placed on modified duty, have been under investigation since last December, when an unidentified woman claimed she had been raped by a police officer in her apartment. In the early hours of December 7th, a cab driver had called 911 for help because his fare was an intoxicated woman who vomited in his cab and needed help home.
A neighborhood bar's surveillance tapes show the police officers visiting the woman's apartment building repeatedly the night of the alleged attack—once to escort her home and then two more times, the final time with a key. According to the bar owner, the video suggests the two cops spent 34 minutes inside the building during their last visit.
It's believed that last month officer Mata admitted that his partner raped a drunken woman while he stood by, and investigators also found heroin in Moreno's locker. According to the Times, both officers are expected to surrender on Tuesday morning and face arraignment in criminal court.
Update (9/9/11): Gothamist has published a long-form feature about the Rape Cop case, written by one of the jurors. It takes you behind the scenes during their deliberations, and explains how they came to their controversial verdict. Buy it today as a PDF or on Kindle.
