The girlfriend of state Sen. Hiram Monserrate needed 30 to 40 stitches to close the two cuts around her left eye, a plastic surgeon testified yesterday at the pol’s trial for allegedly slicing her.
But Karla Giraldo, 30, refused to have surgery on smaller cuts under the eye because she was afraid of more painful needles and stitches, which could leave scars, said Dr. Homayoun Sasson of Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
Sasson said he couldn’t say whether the wounds resulted from a deliberate attack or an accident. He said she didn’t appear drunk.
Monserrate, 42, is on trial in Queens Supreme Court for allegedly slashing Giraldo’s face with a piece of glass last Dec. 19 after finding a cop’s PBA card in her pocketbook.
Defense lawyer Joseph Tacopina says Giraldo was cut accidentally when a Monserrate tripped while giving her a glass of water.
Sasson said Giraldo had a straight cut about 1.5 centimeters long above her left eye, and in the shape of a cross beside the eye.
He said the cuts needed 30 to 40 stitches, not the 20 stitches written on the hospital report.
He added that Giraldo will have permanent scars.
Earlier, Justice William Erlbaum said he was concerned that he was being flooded with letters from state Assemblywoman Patricia Eddington (D-Suffolk) and the National Organization for Women, lobbying for him to give Monserrate “the maximum sentence allowable by law.”