Oscar winning actor, Cuba Gooding Jr. appeared in a New York City Court On Thursday
Gooding,51, appeared in a Manhattan criminal court, to be told that he is facing a new charge. The ‘People Vs. O.J. Simpson’ star appeared glum looking as he stood beside his attorney to hear the bad news.
The jury selection was set to begin for Gooding’ sexual misconduct case when the D.A said there is another unheard charge against the actor. The prosecutor said the ‘charge was in a sealed indictment’ and was not revealed in open court.
The actor was arrested June 13, 2019 for an incident that happened in NYC on June 9th, 2019. A 29 year old woman said that Gooding grouped her without her consent at ‘Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square’.
The woman called police shortly after she alleges the incident occurred, and told police she believed Gooding was drunk. Gooding turned himself in, once the warrant was known to him. Cuba plead not guilty, and was released on a ‘personal recognizance bond’.
The actor has no criminal record, and was allowed to return to his home in Los Angeles pending trial.
Sources Said On Thursday ‘There Appears To Be A Pattern Of Sexual Assaults’ By The Actor
Sources that spoke on the condition of anonymity said that in addition to the undisclosed charge today, there may be other incidents. Gooding is due back in court next week, where he will be arraigned on the new charges.
The actor wore a black suit, and huddled with his team of lawyers. The D.A. revealed the new charges. Legal experts weighing in on the matter, said it’s unusual for the charge not to be read during a hearing such as this.
One of Gooding’ high powered celebrity attorneys Mark Jay Heller said during a phone interview, ‘the team is not worried about the new charges’. Heller added ‘we will see on Tuesday what the charges are, but in my opinion it’s probably going to be some insignificant misdemeanor charge’.’We will go trial and Cuba will be exonerated’.
The New York Chief of Detectives, Dermot Shea was asked about the additional Gooding charges. Shea, “there are several sexual assaults complaints against Gooding that we are working on”. He added ‘there are active criminal complaints against him that we are working on’. ‘We are interviewing witnesses and gathering
evidence’.
Cuba Gooding, Jr. Said It Was Very Difficult To Detach From The Dark Persona Of O.J. Simpson
Cuba, won an Oscar for best supporting actor in the 1996 Tom Cruise film, ‘Jerry Maguire’. Gooding played, a wide receiver professional football player, ‘Rod Tidwell’ to Cruise’s sport agent character.
Cuba Gooding in a recent interview talked about his turn playing O.J. Simpson in the widely successful FX series, American Crime Story ‘The People Vs. O.J. Simpson’. He was on ‘Sway Universe’ where he discussed the role that was difficult to recover from.
Some of the family members at the time, were against the series from being aired. Mr Gooding said he understood where they coming from. He said at the time of the Simpson verdict, he ‘celebrated the not guilty verdict. Cuba claims he wanted to see a black man be found ‘not guilty’. Furthermore, Gooding said it was the hardest role he ever played, and ‘it took him months to recover from the experience’.