Hiram Trial Breaks After Girlfriend Claims She Blacked Out Incident

The assault trial of State Senator Hiram Monserrate has adjourned for the weekend after yesterday's dramatic testimony from his girlfriend Karla Giraldo. The victim explained inconsistencies with her initial accusations that she was attacked by Monserrate to her current version that a glass broke on her face by saying that she was so drunk that night that "my mind was in another planet." Despite her previous grand jury testimony saying she only had a couple glasses of wine, Giraldo said that she was so drunk that she could not remember banging on a neighbor's door looking for help or telling a doctor that Monserrate attacked her while being treated for the cuts that would leave her with 40 stitches.

What Giraldo did remember all seemed to sound favorable to Monserrate. She told the court, “(Hiram) was not dragging me. He never hurt me or did anything to me. He was pulling me for my own good, and thanks to him I’m all right and my face is all right.” Prosecutors only called Giraldo as a witness after being prodded by the judge in the case.

Giraldo was quite confrontational with prosecutors, who unsuccessfully attempted to question her as a hostile witness. When she was asked personal questions, Giraldo angrily refused to answer some, but did admit to having elective plastic surgery somewhere other than her face, despite being afraid of needles. The News calls her testimony "feisty and rambling." The Post's Andrea Peyser does not mince words for Giraldo, calling her, "115 pounds of piss, vinegar and endless devotion to her tempestuous honey...frowning, pouting and drinking water from a — thankfully — plastic cup."