Prosecutors Grill NYPD Officer Charged In '08 Rape

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For the third day in a row, a city police officer accused of raping a drunk woman inside her East Village apartment in 2008 was back on the stand Wednesday, and the prosecution aggressively attacked his side of the story. NY1's Criminal Justice reporter Dean Meminger filed the following report.

While in court, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Colleen Balbert stepped up the heat when questioning Police Officer Kenneth Moreno on Wednesday, who is accused of raping a woman in her East Village home in December 2008.

Most of the emphasis was on a wiretap that the accuser wore when she confronted Moreno at the Ninth Precinct where he worked.

On the recording, Moreno can be heard saying repeatedly that he did nothing wrong.

At one point, he does agree that he wore a condom when she started to talk about sexually transmitted diseases and being pregnant.

During testimony, Moreno said he never wore a condom and that there was no sex.

"I knew what happened. I knew she wasn't raped. I knew we didn't have sex. I was telling her what happened," said the officer.

Balbert fired back, "No, she was telling you what happened."

What everyone in the cases agrees on is that Moreno and his partner, Officer Franklin Mata, helped the woman into her East Village apartment after a cab driver said she was drunk. The officers then returned to the woman's apartment three more time during their overnight shift.

Moreno is charged with raping the clothing store executive, while Mata acted as a lookout.

There was a lot of debate over whether or not the woman was asleep or passed out at times in the apartment.

The prosecutor yelled at Moreno that he is heard on the wiretap telling the woman she was passed out.

"You said, 'Yeah, you were passed out,'" said Balbert.

Defense attorney Joseph Tacopina jumped up and yelled, "No he didn't."

The judge then shouted to Tacopina, "Sit down!"

Moreno has admitted to being alone with the woman in her bedroom while she was wearing only a bra. He said he kissed her on the forehead, while rejecting her sexual passes.

The prosecutor asked Moreno what he told Mata about what happened in the bedroom.

He initially said he did not tell him anything because he was embarrassed.

Later he said, "I don't kiss and tell."

The defense said closing arguments are next after a long six weeks of testimony.

Both officers face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.