New charges against officers in rape case

NEW YORK

The 11 new charges bring the total to 26.

Right now, both sides are spinning the new charges as good for their side.

Prosecutors now say Officers /*Kenneth Moreno*/ and /*Franklin Mata*/ made four on-duty visits to the 27 year old woman's apartment, not three.

So in addition to the rape charges the men are accused of official misconduct for allegedlynot calling an ambulance to take the drunken woman to the hospital and falsifying business records for leaving the precinct for a fourth visit when they were supposed to be on meal break.

In the revised indictment prosecutors contend "this new evidence in no way makes the people's case weaker, but rather stronger… indeed what we discovered was that these officers snuck out of the precinct while they were on meal to return to the complainant's apartment for a fourth time."

Prosecutors have claimed the rape happened on the third visit.

So Moreno's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, says making a fourth visit impossible to justify.

"Why would they go back?" he said.

The district attorney's office says the woman was too intoxicated to get from a cab to her /*East Village*/ fifth floor walk up apartment in December 2008.

Officer Moreno is accused of raping the semi-conscious woman.

Officer Mata is the accused of being the look-out.

Both pleaded not guilty.

Jury selection was supposed to begin today, but the judge delayed it until next Monday.

They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

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