The two former police officers who were controversially acquitted of raping a drunk woman they escorted home, but convicted of misdemeanor misconduct for re-entering her apartment with stolen keys, want to clear their legal record. In their appeal, Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata contend that to be guilty of misconduct, they would have had to receive some benefit from entering the woman’s apartment. Since they were acquitted on rape charges, “At worst, it’s goofing off on the job — an administrative matter,” says their lawyer. Since Moreno and Mata were sentenced to one year and two months, respectively, for their misdemeanor convictions, their quest to get those convictions overturned has the tangible goal of keeping them out of jail. However, truly clearing their names may prove more difficult, as the “rape cop” moniker lives on in Post headlines.
