By Bill Parry
The ex-girlfriend of former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate created some drama in Brooklyn federal court this week.
Karla Giraldo’s $35 million lawsuit against the city, NYPD detectives and Long Island Jewish Hospital was thought to be in jeopardy because she had disappeared.
Her lawyers had not heard from their client in months and the city had suggested that the case should be dismissed if she was not found by the next court date based on papers filed at Brooklyn Federal Court.
That date was Monday, Dec. 9, and the suspense ended over the weekend.
“She was found,” said Giraldo’s attorney Linda Cronin. “She contacted my office in time, so the case is now back on track.”
The case is based on the domestic violence case against Monserrate that made headlines in 2008 for an incident in which Giraldo’s face ended up slashed. Video footage of the incident showed the senator pulling Giraldo down a stairway and through a hallway in his Jackson Heights apartment building. Monserrate received a misdemeanor assault conviction in 2009 for the crime that ended up with his being booted from the Senate, where he represented Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Corona, in February 2010.
In her lawsuit, Giraldo alleges that the domestic violence case against Monserrate was fabricated because he was a public official. Giraldo maintains that she was prevented from leaving the hospital and the police precinct until she falsely accused Monserrate of attacking her.
Giraldo received 20 stitches in the incident, but she has maintained that Monserrate only slipped and fell with the glass in his hand and had been pulling on her because she did not want to go to the hospital.
Monserrate, a former city councilman, is serving a 24-month sentence for fraudulently using Council funds to underwrite his own election campaign. He was convicted in 2012 on one count of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Monserrate had pleaded guilty to channeling the funds to a Corona nonprofit and then using the organization to conduct his failed 2006 Senate campaign.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
