NYPD Officers' Rape Trial Set to Open
NEW YORK --
Two New York City police officers are poised to go on trial on charges of raping a woman they were summoned to help get home.
Opening statements are expected Monday in the trial of Officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata.
They deny doing anything criminal in their December 2008 encounter with the 27-year-old woman.
Mata and Moreno responded when a cabbie reported she was too drunk to get out of his taxi. Prosecutors say Moreno then raped her in her Manhattan apartment, and Mata acted as a lookout. Both face rape and other charges.
The woman later secretly taped a conversation with Moreno. He said "nothing happened" but also said "yes" when asked whether he'd used a condom. His lawyer says Moreno was just trying to appease the woman.
