Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Lawyer Blasts NYC DA As Sex Pest Trial Delayed Until October

Source: ANGELA WEISS / Getty

“Jerry McGuire” Star In Court Tuesday For Allegedly Groping Club Goer

The lawyer representing Cuba Gooding Jr. in his sex abuse case blasted prosecutors for delaying his trial and questioned whether the actor’s accuser had stopped cooperating.

The “Boyz In The Hood” star was in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday for what was supposed to be the start of his trial for misdemeanor forcible touching and sex abuse. Instead, Assistant District Attorney Jenna Long asked that the trial be delayed a month so that her office could hand over additional security footage from the night of the alleged incident to the defense. Long also announced that the Chief Medical Examiner had also completed a DNA report, but did not reveal the results.

Gooding Jr., sporting a grey suit, a faux hawk and heavy bags under his eyes, said nothing during the hearing. But his lawyer Peter Toumbekis complained that the DA’s Office was dragging its heels when it came to prosecuting the nearly three-month-old case.

“We stand prepared to move forward with the trial today,” Toumbekis said.

Cops arrested the veteran thespian back in June after a woman told police that an inebriated Gooding Jr. grabbed her breast during a night out at a Manhattan club. Gooding Jr. has denied the woman’s allegations.

Source: ANGELA WEISS / Getty

Outside the court, Gooding’s other lawyer Mark Heller speculated that the DA’s office was buying time because his client’s accuser had stopped working with authorities on the case.

“It’s our perception that they are not getting the cooperation of the complaining witness, who was not present today in court,” Heller told reporters. “We believe that the District Attorney is trying to procrastinate and coax the complaining witness to be more compliant with them.”

Heller said that Gooding’s alleged victim’s version of what went down doesn’t jibe with security footage of the alleged incident.

“If this does forward to a trial, I think it will be very clear that she contradicts what the video and the true facts really are,” he said, “and I think that will obviously, no doubt, result in the jury seeing that there’s no case here.”

Gooding Jr.’s trial is now set to start on Oct. 10.