A New York State Appeals Court last week upheld the conviction of disgraced former state Senator Hiram Monserrate for a brutal 2008 attack on his girlfriend.

The Appellate Division, Second Department, rejected Monserrate’s claim that prosecutors failed to prove their claim that Karla Giraldo was wounded in an attack at his apartment in December 2008.

In its decision, the four-judge panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department, noted that the guilty verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. “The evidence presented as to the complainant’s [Ms. Giraldo’s] weakened state from severe facial injuries, the manner in which the injuries to her arm were inflicted, the defendant’s motive as a contributing factor to the degree of force he used and the exacerbation of the complainant’s injuries, and the visual depiction of the complainant’s facial expressions in reaction to the defendant’s acts, provided [Justice Erlbaum] with a sufficient basis to infer the complainant suffered substantial pain.”

District Attorney Brown stated, “The Appellate Division’s affirmance of the trial court’s verdict and sentence conveys a clear message that domestic violence is a serious crime that can never be condoned. The Court’s unanimous decision represents a victory for those of us who seek to prevent family violence and abuse—and to punish those who engage in such conduct.”

Giraldo’s face was slashed in the attack and doctors needed 40 stitches to close the wound.

Monserrate, 42, who opted for a bench trial instead of presenting his case to a jury in September 2009, was charged with three counts of felony assault for allegedly attacking Giraldo during an altercation on December 19 left Karla Giraldo, 32, with a black eye and a gash on her face.

Monserrate and Giraldo later insisted she suffered the injuries in a freak accident and not as the result of an attack. Monserrate claimed that Giraldo was in bed at the time of the incident and he tripped while holding a glass. The glass shattered in his hand and cut Giraldo’s face when he landed on the bed.

Prosecutors argued that Giraldo suffered the injuries when Monserrate attacked her, after he became angry when he found her with another man’s cellphone and union card.

Prosecutors unleashed a bombshell surveillance tape at trial that showed Giraldo ringing a neighbor’s doorbell for help after the attack.

The tape also showed Giraldo, with blood pouring from her face wound, desperately seeking help from the neighbor and being pulled from the neighbor’s door by Monserrate and yanked to an exit in the building lobby.

Monserrate refused to accept a plea agreement from prosecutors that would have allowed him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of reckless assault. By accepting the plea, Monserrate would have been able to keep his senate seat, law enforcement sources said.

Monserrate was convicted and sentenced in late 2009. He was later removed from his senate seat.