By Jeremy Walsh
After long deliberation, the state Senate has ousted embattled Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D-East Elmhurst) — at least until he appeals the decision in court like he has vowed to do since his misdemeanor assault conviction last year.
The Senate voted 53-8 to expel Monserrate late Tuesday night. The no votes included Monserrate, his allies Pedro Espada (D-Bronx) and Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx), and Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn).
In a long, impassioned speech to the Senate, Monserrate invoked the occasionally troubled civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and warned about the precedent the ejection would set.
“This clearly here is a much, much bigger issue than just me,” he said. “This is about the process and the rule of law. I really hope that no one in this chamber ever in their life and their public service career, that they ever find themselves in a situation similar to me. That on one evening … something goes awry and you find yourself at the mercy of certain colleagues with unfortunate political agendas.”
Sampson said he was disappointed that the Senate opted for an immediate expulsion.
“While the Select Committee went to extraordinary lengths to conduct a full, fair, and thorough review of all relevant facts, evidence, rules, and procedures, I still believe the Senate should not have acted to expel Senator Monserrate while the appeal of his conviction is pending in the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court,” Sampson said in a statement. “I would have supported expulsion if his conviction was upheld.”
State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) was one of the 53 voting in favor. She said that despite the lengthy deliberations and the conference leader’s opposition to the final resolution, Senate Democrats remain united.
“There are times when the leader will vote against something,” she said. “I don’t read anything into it at all. And, in fact, the conference is very supportive of Sen. Sampson.”
Stavisky said the next two months will be spent mostly in budget negotiations and Monserrate’s vote will not be missed.
Monserrate has vowed to fight any expulsion attempt in court. He will also probably run for the same seat in a special election Gov. David Paterson has pledged to hold before April 1. Monserrate will face state Assemblyman Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights), whom the Queens Democratic Party has backed to replace the senator.
Peralta called the expulsion “a victory for all New Yorkers.”
“It is timeto movebeyond this sad chapter,” he said in a statement.
Monserrate was convicted of misdemeanor assault for recklessly injuring his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, as he tried to pull her out of his apartment building in the early hours of Dec. 19, 2008 after the two had a fight and she was injured by a broken glass. Monserrate was acquitted of deliberately cutting her face with the glass.
A Senate select committee spent a month formulating a report that concluded his conduct in the wake of Giraldo’s injury was not up to the standards of the Senate and called for him to either be censured or kicked out of the governing body.
Monserrate accused the committee of being formed solely to justify his expulsion.
Sampson, who became the de facto leader of the Senate after a June 2009 coup led by Monserrate and Sen. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx) discredited then-Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), appeared reluctant to bring an expulsion resolution to a vote. The Democrats’ 32-30 majority is now reduced to a single vote and Espada and Diaz may break ranks with the rest of the conference in protest against the expulsion.
Some Democrats have also worried that Monserrate’s expulsion would set a precedent that would require the Senate to treat Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), currently awaiting trial on charges of assaulting a New York Post photographer, in the same manner. Members of the select committee who evaluated Monserrate denied that was true, pointing out there was no domestic violence alleged in the Parker incident.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
