Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. was charged with forcible touching Thursday after meeting with NYPD sex crimes detectives over accusations he groped a woman’s breasts Sunday at a Midtown bar, his lawyer said.
The “Jerry Maguire” star was being transported to Manhattan Criminal Court, where he will plead not guilty to the Class A misdemeanor in a matter of hours, lawyer Mark Heller said.
The arrest followed shortly after Gooding stepped out of a BMW, smiled, waved at reporters and walked silently into the police grilling around 2 p.m.
Speaking to the Daily News just minutes before the voluntary surrender, Heller said Gooding was “extremely confident” he did nothing wrong.
“Nobody is happy to be in this position, but I can tell you he’s feeling extremely confident and has great trust in the legal system. He has no concern he’ll ever be convicted. It’s just a terrible ordeal,” Heller said.
He said Gooding is adamant he didn’t grope a 29-year-old woman’s breasts at the rooftop bar Magic Hour on Sunday.
Heller said surveillance video taken inside Magic Hour will exonerate his famous client.
“I have to tell you, I’ve viewed almost two hours of video, and it does not reveal one scintilla of criminal conduct, not even something ambiguous that could be misinterpreted,” Heller said.
“They have extensive video. We’ve reviewed it all. It shows this woman almost stalking him, following him around,” he said.
Heller said Gooding spent his entire time at the rooftop bar in the company of Claudine De Niro, the former wife of Robert De Niro’s son, who is Gooding’s “girlfriend at this point.”
He claimed police have not asked De Niro for an eyewitness statement.
The lawyer also said Gooding knows “nothing” about a second woman sources tell The News stepped forward to say the film star grabbed her buttocks when she met him at a Midtown restaurant more than a decade ago.
The second woman claims the assault happened in March 2008 at Butter Restaurant, which is owned by chef and Food Network star and judge Alex Guarnaschelli, the sources said.
(Excerpt) Read more in: NY Daily News
