Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads not guilty to sexual abuse charges
Attorney for actor Cuba Gooding Jr. says surveillance video will clear his client; Jacqui Heinrich reports from New York.
A defense lawyer for Cuba Gooding Jr. has launched a #NotMe movement after a Manhattan judge Wednesday denied his request to dismiss the actor’s sex abuse case.
“After fifty years of defending innocent, falsely accused and unfairly prosecuted defendants, I am igniting the ‘Not Me Movement’ (#NotMe),’ ” said attorney Mark Heller.
Judge Phyllis Chu denied the motion to drop the misdemeanor forcible touching and sex abuse charges against the “Jerry Maguire” actor for allegedly squeezing a woman’s breast June 9 inside the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar.
CUBA GOODING JR. SAYS HE 'TRUSTS THE SYSTEM' WILL EXONERATE HIM IN GROPING CASE
The Manhattan Criminal Court judge wrote in her decision that, “The court finds the defendant has failed to meet his burden of setting forth compelling reasons to warrant dismissal.”
Heller argued in court papers that Gooding’s accuser has “certain mental characteristics” that make her likely to fabricate allegations.
CUBA GOODING JR.'S ACCUSER HAS A 'TROUBLED MENTALITY,' ATTORNEY CLAIMS
CUBA GOODING JR. ACCUSED OF GRABBING WOMAN'S BREAST
The 30-year-old woman wrote in social media posts, according to Heller’s filing, that her “brain was one big fat mess…Some people are scared of others and want nothing more to be invisible. I am not that type of person. I am starving to be seen.”
Manhattan prosecutors slammed Heller for victim-shaming and stressed that the online admissions have no bearing on the case or the events in question.
CUBA GOODING JR. PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN GROPING CASE
The woman told police that the Oscar-winner grabbed her breast as his girlfriend, Claudine De Niro, sat in between them. Grainy surveillance video appears to show Gooding reach toward the accuser’s chest then take her hand and kiss it.
Gooding has staunchly denied the allegations, and Heller has insisted that the video proves that his client committed no crime.
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“I am totally confident that when a jury of Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s peers assess all of the exculpatory evidence in this case, that he will be totally exonerated,” Heller said. “His case will be a hallmark example for the #NotMe Movement.”
This article originally appeared on Page Six.
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