NY1.com

  47º

You are not signed in  |  Sign in here  |  Help

You're viewing a lite version of NY1.com

Time Warner Cable customers: Sign in with your TWC ID for video access.

Get my TWC ID. | Get TWC service. | Read the FAQ.

Updated 05/18/2011 05:29 PM

Jurors Told Not To Rush Deliberations In NYPD Rape Trial

By: NY1 News

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

Jurors began deliberations Wednesday in the rape trial of two city police officers.

Officer Kenneth Moreno is accused of raping a drunk 27-year-old woman in her East Village apartment in December of 2008, while his partner, Officer Franklin Mata, acted as a lookout.

While in court, the judge told the panel not to rush and to deliberate as long as necessary.

The judge also told jurors to look at both officers separately, and not be swayed by the fact that they are members of the police force.

In her closing arguments Tuesday, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Coleen Balbert said Moreno may not have believed that having sex with the drunk woman was rape.

However, she said it was a crime of opportunity because the woman was physically helpless.

Balbert said Officer Mata should have intervened and that he acted like a lookout in a robbery.

The defense argues Moreno did not have sex with the woman.

They say she is motivated by a $57 million lawsuit against the officers and the city.

Defense lawyers admit the two men returned to the woman's apartment several times, but they say it was only to check on her.

The two officers each face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.