ACTOR Cuba Gooding Jr smiled today as he attended court to face charges of groping a woman in a New York bar.
The Oscar-winning star, 51, is alleged to have forcibly touched the thigh and breast of his 29-year-old accuser during a drink-fuelled evening earlier this year.
CCTV footage shows him sitting on a sofa in The Magic Hour Rooftop Lounge, a bar near Times Square, with girlfriend Claudine De Niro at 10.15pm on Sunday 9 June.
A second woman is seen sitting down next to De Niro before Gooding leans over his girlfriend and appears to grope the woman’s left thigh.
He then appears to grab her breast before she swipes his hand away.
His alleged victim contacted police at 1am on June 10, just hours after the incident, telling them Gooding had grabbed her as she passed him a glass of water to help him sober up.
She also alleges the dad-of-three was “highly intoxicated” at the time.
He denies any wrongdoing.
Gooding rose to fame throughout the 1990s after landing his breakout role in Boyz n the Hood, released in 1991.
He went on to appear in A Few Good Men, Outbreak, and Jerry Maguire, for which he won an academy award for best supporting actor.
Gooding handed himself in to police on June 13, four days after the incident, and the next day appeared at Manhattan Criminal Court to enter a plea of not guilty to charges of forcible touching.
Mark Jay Heller, Gooding’s high-profile lawyer, has previously claimed that the video of the incident “completely exonerates [Gooding] from any criminal conduct.”
“An extensive review of the available video taken that evening reveals that there was absolutely no criminal conduct and inappropriate conduct on the part of Cuba Gooding Jr,” he said.
Recalling the evening, Gooding said: “I was at the club, I left.
“I met a bunch of people, I said hello, I took pictures and… you know, you have to have faith in what people are saying.
“Now I’m giving the process the chance to show what happened, what went down.”
Jury selection for Gooding’s trial had been due to start this week, but has been postponed until October 10.
Prosecutors say they are still collecting evidence in the case.
The actor faces a jail term of up to a year if convicted.
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