There's a difference between a court of law (where I likely wouldn't have voted to convict because the victim's new testimony created reasonable doubt) and the court of public oppinion where you can say what you want.

And not guilty is not guilty.

this merely means the state failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he was guilty of the charge, not that he didn't commit the act.

the girlfriend's refusal to participate, and her changing stories (not unusual in domestic violence cases) pretty much doomed the prosecution from the start.

"In the next segment, two hours later, Ms. Giraldo, in baggy pants and a coat borrowed from Mr. Monserrate, according to his lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, is seen holding a towel to her face, exiting the apartment and descending the stairs, followed by Mr. Monserrate in flapping shirttails and a baseball cap, carrying a jacket.

At the bottom of the landing, Ms. Giraldo lunges for a door -- she is frantically ringing Ms. Loudon's bell, according to the neighbor's testimony -- until she is yanked away by Mr. Monserrate. The towel falls onto a step. She grabs for the banister, but he has a firm grip on her arm, and propels her out as a leg flies to the side.

An exterior camera picks them up coming through the door. Ms. Giraldo's face, in close-up, is contorted as she appears to be crying. She tries to slow her exit by grabbing the door frame, but Mr. Monserrate pulls her out."

Joe will bring out why he went to that hospital and think you should wait to hear the explanation before you say you don't buy it.

His argument was that Monserrate had been treated at Long Island Jewish Hospital once, so rather than take his beloved, "accidentally" cut, bleeding from a facial wound cut all the way to her skull, girlfriend to a hospital in the district where he had been a city councilman (with an excellent trauma center), he decided to take her in a car to a hospital a forty minute drive away, bypassing other hospitals as well such as Lenox Hill, Mt. Sinai, New York Hospital, Beth Israel, Roosevelt Hospital, Bellevue, NYU Medical Center, etc.

Tacopina tried to introduce hospital ratings, but the judge wouldn't allow it. If he wanted to do that, he should have put Monserrate on the stand, but credit to Tacopina for being far too smart to do that.

I guess he thinks Monserrate should have left her on the floor bleeding instead of insisting she get medical care.

The medical personnel failed to write down any incriminating statements of what the the girlfriend told them until weeks later. The judge rightfully failed to credit it, particularly in light of the girlfriend's denial. The state didn't prove its case. He's not guilty of anything except forcefully removing her from the building to get her to a hospital when she didn't want to go. The video showing that also showed by the time they got outside the building, they were walking together and he had his arm around her.

As to the other charges, he was adjudicated not guilty, and that is the end of that.

As to the politics, it's up to Mr. Monserrate and his fellow New York Senators, though both of New York's US Senators have called for him to quit, and the New York State Senate has convened a committee to investigate the matter.