You might think that when you have an excuse as dubious as “I slipped and a glass in my hand shattered and accidentally slammed into my girlfriend’s face and the videotape that shows me dragging her out of the apartment is wrong,” you would leap at the opportunity to take a plea deal that would slap you with a misdemeanor and allow you to keep your State Senate seat. But Hiram Monserrate, who finds himself in such a situation, is willing to take his chances in court on Monday. “Hiram is innocent and we’re ready to go to trial,” his defense lawyer Joe Tacopina said yesterday with a straight face. [NYDN]
