麻豆传媒

Skip to main content

Cuba Gooding Jr. faces February trial in NYC groping case

Cuba Gooding Jr. arrives at New York Criminal court for his sexual misconduct case, Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) 
Cuba Gooding Jr. arrives at New York Criminal court for his sexual misconduct case, Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Share
NEW YORK -

Cuba Gooding Jr. will go on trial in February in his New York City groping case, a judge said Monday, with prosecutors planning to portray the actor as a serial offender and the defense contending the case is an example of #MeToo run amok.

Judge Curtis Farber set a Feb. 1 trial date in the case, which involves allegations the Oscar-winning 鈥淛erry Maguire鈥 star violated three different women at three different Manhattan night spots in 2018 and 2019.

One of the women alleged Gooding pinched her buttocks. Another said he squeezed her breast.

Farber had expressed a desire to start the trial sooner, possibly in December, but Gooding lawyer Peter Toumbekis said he'll be tied up with trials in the Bronx then.

鈥淚 want to lock this down for trial,鈥 Farber said at a hearing in state court in Manhattan. 鈥淭his case has been on my calendar for two years, going on three years.鈥

鈥淚f I give you a firm date, I don't want to hear that the case in the Bronx didn't go and the judge adjourned it to February,鈥 the exasperated judge said. 鈥淭hat's not going to fly with me.鈥

Gooding had been scheduled to go on trial in April 2020, but that was scuttled as coronavirus cases surged in New York and the state shut down most court matters.

Gooding was arrested in June 2019 after a 29-year-old woman told police he squeezed her breast without her consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square.

A few months later, Gooding was charged in two additional incidents as more women came forward to accuse him of abuse.

He was accused of pinching a server's buttocks after making a sexually suggestive remark to her at TAO Downtown and forcibly touching a woman inappropriately at the LAVO New York nightclub, both in 2018.

In all, Gooding, 53, is charged with six misdemeanor counts that could land him in jail if he is convicted.

He has pleaded not guilty and denies all allegations of wrongdoing. His lawyers have argued that overzealous prosecutors, caught up in the fervor of the #MeToo movement, are trying to turn 鈥渃ommonplace gestures鈥 or misunderstandings into crimes.

For example, Gooding's lawyers say video of the TAO incident shows Gooding tapping the woman on the back with a fingernail and turning around to give her a high-five to say goodbye as he leaves the club around 4:30 a.m.

Prosecutors made arrangements for Toumbekis and Gooding to see video of the LAVO New York episode, which the lawyer said he'd been prevented from doing because of COVID-19 restrictions at the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Gooding, in a dark suit, tie and face mask, waited on a bench in the courtroom gallery while Farber attended to two other cases before the star's case was called.

Gooding didn't speak during the hearing. As he was leaving court, he gave a thumbs up to a man in the hallway who called out his name.

Farber previously ruled that prosecutors can call two additional women to testify about their allegations that Gooding also violated them. Those women, whose claims did not result in criminal charges, were among 19 other accusers whom prosecutors were seeking to call as witnesses.

In addition to the criminal case, Gooding is accused in a lawsuit of raping a woman in New York City in 2013. After a judge issued a default judgment in July because Gooding hadn't responded to the lawsuit, the actor retained a lawyer who indicated they would fight it.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

A Brampton woman says she is devastated after she lost more than $200,000 鈥 her life's savings 鈥 to a romance scam.

Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus was among approximately 120 people who gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil near the scene of a vicious attack against a 16-year-old in Cobalt.

Local Spotlight

For the second year in a row, the 鈥楪ift-a-Family鈥 campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.

Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.

A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.

As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.

A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts 鈥 not for themselves, but for those in need.

A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.

Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.

A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.