Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein (L) with Nicole Paultre-Bell, widow of Sean Bell, at the 2008 trial in Queens County Criminal Court of of three New York City police officers charged with killing her husband. (UPI Photo/Monika Graff) |
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NEW YORK, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- New York civil rights lawyer Sanford Rubenstein faces allegations he raped a woman after a birthday party for the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Sources in law enforcement and those close to Rubeinstein gave the New York Daily News different versions of what happened Wednesday night. The woman allegedly told police she woke in Rubenstein's apartment after drinking too much and found they were having sex while someone close to Sanford said the encounter was consensual and the woman voluntarily had sex with the lawyer agaiin after waking.
"It's a classic he said, she said. She's claiming she was attacked. He said it was consensual," a police source said.
Sharpton's 60th birthday party Wednesday was attended by a powerhouse group, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio. The alleged victim is a 42-year-old executive who works for Sharpton's National Action Network, a police source told the News.
The source said Rubenstein could be charged with third-degree rape, having sex with a woman incapable of consenting to sex because of alcohol consumption.
Rubenstein's apartment on East 64th Street was searched Sunday. Police said Rubenstein said nothing incriminating during a monitored phone call with the victim in which she asked him what happened.
"He's a lawyer so he knows the law. ... His story is everything was consensual," another source told the News.
Rubenstein has worked with Sharpton closely and both are currently involved in the case of Eric Garner, who died after being put in a police chokehold on Staten Island, and that of Sandra Amezquita, a pregnant Brooklyn woman thrown to the ground by police.
"I don't care how close we are, if he's wrong, he's wrong," Sharpton said. "If he's right, we'll see."
