Lawyers: NYPD Cop Meant 'No Harm' in Alleged Rape Case

By Alicia Cruz
For the Black Urban Times

He asked a woman for directions, when she refused, he opened his jacket to display his service issued 9-mm. pistol and told her she was going with him.

From there, the defendant -- an off-duty New York City Police Officer-- took the victim to the courtyard of building on 217th Street and began raping her at gunpoint. An observant tenant called police and the cop was arrested.

In the State of New York, the legal definition for kidnapping per S 135.25 reads:  
A person is guilty of kidnapping in the first degree when he abducts
another person and when:
  (a) Inflict physical injury upon him or violate or abuse him sexually;
or
  (b) Accomplish or advance the commission of a felony.

Lawyers for the disgraced cop, Michael Pena, who is reportedly engaged to be married, say he did not intend to hurt anybody. Pena says he was intoxicated at the time of the incident, and that he is confident the truth will eventually come out. At his lawyers advice, Pena refused to detail the incident, but added, "Everything's not black and white. There are shades of gray," he told the Village Voice.

The victim, a 25-year-old school teacher in Inwood, might disagree with Pena and his attorney's "no harm intended" defense and those gray areas.

Prosecutors said Pena, who was suspended without pay after the alleged rape, has been indicted, but the exact nature of his charges are not immediately clear. The four-year veteran cop from the 33rd Precinct, is being held in lieu of a $1 million bond on rape and other charges.