NY Senate committee to review Monserrate case
NEW YORK - NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Senate on Tuesday established a special committee to investigate Sen. Hiram Monserrate and consider possible sanctions following his misdemeanor conviction last week of assaulting his girlfriend.
While another Hispanic senator charged that the effort to oust Monserrate was racism by white senators, the Senate's Democratic Conference leader disagreed and pointed to the mixed composition of the committee's five Democrats, saying he was looking for people who would be "impartial, objective and fair." Senate Republicans are to select four others.
"Violence against women is simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated. It has no place in the world. It has no place in the Senate," conference leader John Sampson said.
After an investigation, the panel can recommend sanctions ranging from censure to expulsion.
Sen. Eric Schneiderman, the committee chairman, said the members would move quickly. Other members are Sens. Ruth Hassell-Thompson of the Bronx, Diane Savino of Staten Island, Toby Ann Stavisky of Queens and Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers.
Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos noted that Sampson could have referred the matter to the standing Ethics Committee, which has an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. He said he would appoint Republicans to the special committee "without preconditions" who will purse the investigation fairly.
Creation of the panel comes a day after U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats, called for Monserrate's resignation.
The freshman senator from Queens and former city police officer and councilman said he would cooperate fully with the committee. He was convicted Thursday, accused of dragging his girlfriend Karla Giraldo through the lobby of his building last December. A security camera showed him apparently forcing her to go to the hospital.
He has refused to resign from the Legislature but could face up to a year in jail at sentencing Dec. 4.
While convicted of a crime, he was acquitted of felony charges that he deliberately cut Giraldo's face with a glass. Both he and Giraldo said the cut was an accident. A felony conviction would have forced him out of office.
"He's not going to be expelled. He was found not guilty of the felony," his attorney, Joseph Tacopina, said. "They can review it in an unbiased and fair manner, but I'm confident they will uncover that he should remain in office."
Sen. Ruben Diaz, a minister, noted that none of the handful of Democrats who have been urging Monserrate to quit are Latinos.
"They're white, that means that they're racist. That means that they never did it for a white guy. They never did it for Sabini. They never did it so why do it now," the Democratic lawmaker from the Bronx said, referring to former state Sen. John Sabini, who faced a misdemeanor drunken driving charge in 2007.
"It's absurd and insulting," said Sen. Brian X. Foley, a white Democrat from Suffolk County who has called for Monserrate's resignation. "I'll compare my civil rights records to anyone. But more importantly, this is not about ethnicity. It's about a crime that was committed by a member of the Senate."
Foley said if Monserrate doesn't resign, the Senate should expel him.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo declined to comment Tuesday, saying his office could be asked for an opinion about Monserrate's rights and what actions the Senate can legally take.
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Associated Press writers Michael Gormley, Valerie Bauman and Colleen Long contributed to this report.
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