Accuser takes the stand in NYPD rape trial

NEW YORK

The 29-year-old woman sobbed at times as she testified in the trial of Officers /*Franklin Mata*/ and /*Kenneth Moreno*/. They were called to help her get to her apartment from a taxi in December 2008.

She says she awoke to being raped, passed out and later heard police radios and two men talking as they seemed to search for something on her bed.

The two police officers barely looked at their accuser as she captivated the courtroom.

"I'm face down on the mattress, on my stomach, and my legs are out," she told the jury. Suddenly she realized, "Somebody was rolling my tights down my legs."

The last thing she remembers is "the rustling of clothes and very loud Velcro ripping" which prosecutors say was Officer Moreno taking off his bulletproof vest.

"Because I was so intoxicated, I was dead weight. I couldn't say or do anything." she insisted.

Officer Moreno and his partner were called by a cabbie to help the woman into her apartment because she could barely walk.

Prosecutors say surveillance video shows them entering and leaving the victims' apartment several times that night.

Hours later, the victim said she woke up and realized she'd been raped.

"I felt so dirty I wanted to take a shower," she told the jury. "I sat down and I tried to take my skin off," she said sobbing. "I started scrubbing myself. I just felt really dirty."

After she got dressed, she ran to a neighbor's apartment and said, "I've been raped and I think it was the cops!"

The victim could not remember whether her attacker used a condom, but she did remember this - "He said something to the effect of, 'Do you want me to stay?'"

When the prosecutor asked what else she remembered, she said, "I remember he kissed me on the shoulder blade.

She said she quickly became afraid after her friend persuaded her to go to an emergency room.

"I had just been raped by two police officers," she testified, sobbing uncontrollably, "When something bad happens, you think to call the police."

Prosecutors say Moreno raped her as Mata acted as a lookout. Both men have pleaded not guilty to rape and other charges.

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