A bipartisan State Senate panel is going to recommend that Queens State Senator Hiram Monserrate be censured or expelled in a report that could be released as early as Thursday, January 14.
After the panel releases the final report, which was leaked to members of the media on Tuesday, the decision about Monserrate’s punishment would likely come before a vote of the entire State Senate.
“I’m satisfied that we reached it in a transparent, fair and bipartisan matter,” said Queens State Senator Toby Stavisky, who was one of the nine Senators on the panel. “We spent a considerable amount of time reading and discussing the issue. The committee report is unanimous, and that is very significant.”
Meanwhile, The New York Daily News cited a source on Wednesday, January 13, that said Monserrate may take preemptive action prior to any vote to expel him by seeking an injunction in federal court that would bar the legislators from removing him from office. Monserrate’s attorney Joseph Tacopina would not comment on the report, but he told the Daily News that “this report will not bar him from entering the Senate chamber.”
The nine-member State Senate panel was formed after a Queens judge found Monserrate guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge for an incident that happened in December of 2008 involving his girlfriend Karla Giraldo. Monserrate was convicted of forcibly dragging Giraldo out of his apartment building that night, but he was cleared of felony assault charges that he slashed her in the face with a broken glass.
During the past month, the panel has discussed and examined evidence provided by the court including transcripts and the surveillance videos from that night. However, the Senate committee did not question Giraldo or Monserrate directly after they denied the panel’s interview requests, according to a source.
“We were also troubled by the fact that he never expressed remorse for his actions. He never took responsibility for his actions,” Stavisky said. “The most important point is that Ms. Giraldo’s version of the events was inconsistent with what Senator Monserrate was reported to have said. We rejected his version of what happened.”
In addition, there was talk within the Senate panel about recommending that the entire State Senate take up an expulsion vote before considering a censure, but there was not a unanimous agreement so it was not included in the report, according to a source familiar with the report.
If the Senate decides on censure for Monserrate, those options could include loss of committee chair, leadership position and seniority.
Monserrate, who represents the 13th Senate District in Queens that includes parts of Jackson Heights, Corona and Elmhurst, is already facing a September 2010 primary challenge from Assemblymember Jose Peralta, who has the backing of the Queens Democratic Party.
