After being indicted on six counts of assault for allegedly cutting his girlfriend, Senator Hiram Monserrate has new counsel.
Monserrate has chosen Joseph Tacopina to help him prepare his defense for the fast approaching June 26 trial date.
Tacopina has a slew of successful acquittals under his belt, including the recent acquittal of Lillo Brancato of “The Sopranos” of murder charges in December 2008 and the 1997 acquittal of Police Officer Thomas Weise in the controversial Abner Louima trial.
In 2007, Tacopina represented Queens City Councilmember Dennis Gallagher after he was charged with rape. Gallagher took a no-jail plea on lesser charges.
The charges against Monserrate stem from an altercation he allegedly had with his girlfriend Karla Giraldo, 29, during the early morning hours of December 19, 2008. After an argument, Monserrate allegedly struck Giraldo in the face with a piece of glass that left her with a black eye and lacerations that needed 20 stitches.
At his arraignment on March 27, 2009, the presiding judge, Supreme Court Justice William Erlbaum, renewed an order of protection against Monserrate, which banned all forms of communication between the couple until December 1, 2009, after he, according to prosecutors, saw footage of Monserrate dragging a bleeding Giraldo in the stairwell of his building. The legislator and his girlfriend had requested to have the order removed.
Though news reports have said that Monserrate dismissed his previous defense attorney, Irving Seidman, Monserrate’s office would not confirm that allegation. The Supreme Court of Queens has Tacopina listed as Monserrate’s private attorney.
However, a source close to the senator said “the original lawyer was the right guy to handle this case up to a certain point when the charges should have been dismissed. Now that Monserrate has turned down two plea offers that didn’t include jail time because it was an accident and not a crime, a trial is more likely and Joe is the right guy to take the lead in court.”
Attorneys Seidman and Tacopina did not return requests for comments.
