A City Council member accused of raping a woman, Dennis Gallagher, yesterday appeared before a grand jury investigating the allegation, fielding questions from a prosecutor for 90 minutes after telling his story to the jury, Mr. Gallagher’s lawyer said.

A Republican who has publicly denied the allegation, Mr. Gallagher told the grand jury he had consensual sex with the woman accusing him of a crime, his lawyer, Stephen Mahler, said. The alleged rape reportedly took place July 8 in Mr. Gallagher’s council office in Middle Village, Queens. “He very strongly felt that as a public official he wanted to tell his story, even over the advice of counsel,” Mr. Mahler said. “He thought it was more forthcoming for him to go before the grand jury and tell his story.”

Mr. Mahler said the 23-member grand jury could vote as early as today on whether to indict the council member. At least 16 members of the grand jury would have to vote in favor of bringing an indictment for it to occur, he said. According to his official council Web site, Mr. Gallagher is married and has two children and lives in Middle Village. He was elected to the council in 2001 and is one of three Republicans on the 51-member body. He is a former investigator for the State of New York Crime Victims Board and was chief of staff to a former City Council minority leader, Thomas Ognibene.

He attended a council meeting at City Hall on July 25 and said he continues to work on issues in his district. Mr. Gallagher said he had faith in the system and was confident he would be vindicated.

Two other council members have faced allegations of sexual misconduct in the past three years, but criminal charges were not pressed in either case.