The question most asked today in Queens is where the heck IS Karla Giraldo?
The Ecuador born woman has not been seen by lawyers representing her in her $35 million lawsuit against NYC, NYPD detectives and the staff of Long Island Jewish Hospital since this past summer. She is alleging that the domestic violence case against Monserrate was fabricated because he was a public official.
The city would love to have the lawsuit vacated for abandonment if she’s not found by the next court date which is December 9 in Brooklyn Federal Court. Her lawyers say that they haven’t found her but that she travels a lot between the U. S. and her native Ecuador.
The Queens beauty who was slashed in the face with a broken glass by her then-boyfriend, disgraced state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, has disappeared. Monserrate was arrested on December 19, 2008 and accused of slashing Karla Giraldo in the face with a broken drinking glass during an argument in his Jackson Heights apartment. He pleaded not guilty. Karla had initially made statements to police and hospital staff which led to his arrest, but later changed her story, saying it was an accident.
On February 27, 2009, the order of protection which prevents Monserrate from having contact with Giraldo was extended over the objections of Monserrate’s attorney. In an appearance before the sentencing judge, William Erlbaum, on July 7, 2010, Monserrate again petitioned to have a court order prohibiting him from contact with Giraldo vacated. The petition was granted, and according to the New York Post, Monserrate and Giraldo kissed and held hands, and it was even rumored that they would be getting married.
In recent years she has maintained that Monserrate only slipped and fell with glass in his hand and had only been pulling on her because she did not want to go to the hospital. She described Monserrate in her letter as a good father to his autistic son, Gabriel, and a helper to his mother, Hilda, who is battling cancer.
Back to the lawsuit: Despite numerous attempts to find her, the lawyers say in court documents that they only hope to hear from Giraldo’s close family members “in the near future.” Giraldo’s cousin did not return messages left for her in Queens and Miami.
Why has she disappeared? You would think that with so much on the line Karla would at least give her lawyers a heads up. Will she appear in Brooklyn on the ninth? We’ll soon know.
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