Cuba Gooding Jr’s groping trial set to begin today

Cuba Gooding Jr.’s trial on groping charges is set to begin this week. The trial, which is scheduled to start Thursday, was postponed in September after prosecutors said they were still waiting for evidence in the Oscar-winning “Jerry Maguire” star’s case. Gooding’s lawyers argued against the delay. The actor is accused of placing his hand on a 29-year-old woman’s breast and squeezing it without her consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar, Lounge near Times Square on June 9. 

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Gooding Jr pleaded not guilty

The woman told police she believed Gooding was intoxicated. The 51-year-old Gooding was arrested four days later after turning himself in to police. He pleaded not guilty to forcible touching and sexual abuse charges and was released on his own recognizance. Gooding later requested to have his case thrown out, but he was rejected.

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Defense asked to dismiss the case

The defense had filed papers saying the misdemeanour forcible touching case should be dismissed based on accounts of two witnesses who say it never happened, and that video from the bar backs up that claim. The papers argued that since there was clear evidence that no crime was committed, it was necessary to throw out the case to protect the integrity of the criminal justice system. The judge ruled that the conflicting accounts should be resolved at a trial. Gooding Jr faces up to a year in jail if convicted. The judge wrote: “This court disagrees. The conflicting factual allegations between the criminal court information and the defendant’s motion should be resolved at trial.”

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Different claims about the video

Video obtained by TMZ that the website says is from inside the bar on the night in question appears to show Gooding Jr putting his hand on or near a woman’s leg and breast as they sit on a couch with his girlfriend between them. Gooding is then seen pulling the woman’s hand to his lips, as if to kiss it, and leaning toward her before another man steps up and talks with them. Gooding’s girlfriend, Claudine De Niro, and a man seen approaching Gooding after the alleged incident said in affidavits filed with Heller’s dismissal motion that they did not see Gooding touch the woman’s breast.

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