....October 8, 3:19 PM
	Two Charges Dropped At Monserrate Trial By Vladic Ravich After several dramatic moments in the prosecution’s arguments against Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona), the defense began building its case this week by seeking to show that girlfriend Karla Giraldo was quite intoxicated at the time of her injuries. Jesus Peña, a lawyer who hosted the Christmas party that Monserrate and his girlfriend attended, testified that she left his party very intoxicated, saying he asked her to sober up or go home. The defense is seeking to discredit the testimony of a Long Island Jewish Hospital doctor who treated Giraldo and testified that Giraldo initially said Monserrate had gone after her deliberately and that the two had been in a fight. The defense will seek to contextualize a video prosecutors played that showed Monserrate chasing and grabbing Giraldo after he allegedly hit her in the face with a glass after arguing over another man’s card in her purse. The defense claims that the injury was a result of a freak accident when Monserrate himself tripped, spilled water on Giraldo and then she accidentally smashed into the glass in surprise. While there are conflicting representations of what she initially told authorities, Giraldo now insists the whole incident was an accident. The judge in the trial also dismissed two of the six charges against Monserrate which alleged that he acted recklessly in handling the glass in his apartment. The judge said the prosecution was clearly accusing him of intentionally attacking Giraldo and that the dismissed charges were incompatible with their case. If convicted, Monserrate faces up to seven years in prison for each of the remaining two felony charges, and expulsion from the Senate. Reach Reporter Vladic Ravich at vravich@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 121.