NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A New York state senator has been acquitted of felony charges of slicing his girlfriend's face during an argument in his Queens apartment.
But Hiram Monserrate, a freshman Democrat, was found guilty Thursday of a misdemeanor charge of recklessly causing physical injury to Karla Giraldo by dragging her through his apartment building to take her to the hospital after she was cut, The New York Times reported.
Justice William M. Erlbaum of the state Supreme Court in Queens, who tried the case without a jury, found the state failed to prove Monserrate had intentionally slashed Giraldo
with a glass after he found another man's business card in her purse. Monserrate and Giraldo both called the December 2008 incident an accident.
Monserrate remained free on $5,000 bond and will be sentenced Dec. 4. It is unclear whether he will be able to remain in office, the Times said.
Giraldo, 30, testified that she was accidentally injured when Monserrate tripped as her brought her a glass of water.
The New York chapter of the National Organization for Women took a strong interest in the case, e-mailing members to ask them to demand that Erlbaum impose the maximum sentence against Monserrate.
