State Sen. Hiram Monserrate’s drunk girlfriend was slashed across the face in a freak accident, after he tried to get her a glass of water and she stumbled into him, the politicians lawyer said today during the opening of his assault trial.
Attorney Joseph Tacopina said Monserrate accidentally splashed some water on a startled Karla Giraldo, who jump up out of a half sleep and stumble into Monserrate, who then dropped the glass and broke it.
“It was a freak accident in no uncertain terms,” Tacopina told state Supreme Court Justice William Erlbaum, who is hearing the case in place of a jury.
Tacopina said a language barrier was behind the confusion over Giraldo’s version of events, an account that ultimately led to Monserrate’s arrest just days before he was scheduled to be sworn is as a state senator.
It didn’t help that Giraldo, 30, was so boozed up that a cousin had to bring her home to Monserrate’s Queens apartment from a party after the host asked her to leave, Tacopina said.
“Were not blaming her for anything,” Tacopina said. “But intoxication impairs one’s ability to perceive.”
He said the woman never intended to blame Monserrate for what happened.
Monserrate, 42, sat stone-faced as a prosecutor and his lawyer took turns laying out a case that could upend his life and political career.
ADA Scott Kessler painted the legislator as a jealous powder keg who erupted Dec. 19 when he found a cop’s PBA card in her pocketbook.
“This case about power and control,” Kessler said. “He’s showing her he has power, and showing her what he thinks of guy who gave it to her.”
Kessler said the early-morning arguing got so loud that a downstairs neighbor banged on the ceiling with a yardstick. Moments later, Kessler said, the neighbor heard Monserrate say, “You want the water, here’s your water.”
The next thing she heard was a thud.
Prosecutors said Monserrate sliced Giraldo’s face with a broken glass during a heated argument.
“My face! My face! I can’t believe he did this to me,” Karla Giraldo, 30, told a nurse following the fight, according to Kessler.
The glass left horizontal and vertical cuts across her face, Kessler said.
Prosecutors said Giraldo initially told police she was attacked, but later recanted after she discovered Monserrate was going to be arrested.